Meteor showers are a fairly frequent occurrence in the annual astronomical calendar, but another surprise was prepared for Earth on May 24, when our planet would collide with a stream of particles from the tail of a comet that flies near the Earth for the first time.
The meteor shower will be formed by comet 209P / LINEAR, which was discovered in 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, and it just so happened that this year the orbit of our planet and the cometary flow are close enough for the interplanetary rendezvous. And if the predictions come true, this month we will be able to enjoy the real sky fireworks, which may even overshadow the famous Perseid meteor shower. Meteors are formed by particles, the size of which usually does not exceed the dust emitted from comets (sometimes asteroids).
Comet 209P / LINEAR
Passing at hypersonic speeds through our atmosphere, these meteorites cause an increase in pressure in front of them, which in turn forms visible light or a “falling star”. Meteor showers arise when our planet passes through a stream of dust formed by a number of famous comets. For example, Halley's comet is the source of Eta Aquarid and Orionid in May and October, respectively. The meteor shower will be called Camelopardalid on May 24th, but astronomers do not know exactly how strong this meteor shower will be.