Image credit: NASA
Few observers of the good night sky saw a glimpse of a new meteor shower Monday night as the Earth passed through the ruined path of a sinking comet.
Meteor showers occurred around 1 a.m. ET, with between 10 and 25 meteors per hour observed plunging into the night sky, according to EarthSky.com, which described the meteor shower as “decent.”
Recent meteor showers like this are quite rare. NASA had portrayed meteor shower as “an all-or-nothing event.”
Every year, there are more than 30 meteor showers, which occur when the Earth flies down the path of debris left by a comet or asteroid that is noticeable to the naked eye.
“Some meteor showers have been around for centuries. For example, the Perseid meteor shower, which occurs every year in August, was first observed about 2,000 years ago and was recorded by Chinese astronomers.” NASA explained.
Meteor showers are usually reported after the constellation from where they occur to emit into the night sky. However, Robert Lunsford, the secretary general of the International Meteorological Organization, announced that Hercules had been wrong.
In a blog post before Monday’s meteor shower, he announced that they would radiate from a constellation called Bootes, northwest of the bright orange star known as Arcturus.