Editing Meteor (section)

== Meteor shower ==
{{Main|Meteor shower|List of meteor showers}}
[[File:Meteor burst.jpg|thumb|Multiple meteors photographed over an extended [[exposure time]] during a [[meteor shower]]]]
[[File:PSM V18 D201 Shower of perseids sept 6 and 7.jpg|thumb|[[Meteor shower]] on chart]]

A [[meteor shower]] is the result of an interaction between a planet, such as Earth, and streams of debris from a [[comet]] or other source. The passage of Earth through cosmic debris from comets and other sources is a [[List of meteor showers|recurring event]] in many cases. Comets can produce debris by water vapor drag, as demonstrated by [[Fred Whipple]] in 1951,<ref name="Harvard-464W">{{cite journal |first=Fred |last=Whipple |author-link=Fred Lawrence Whipple |year=1951 |title=A Comet Model. II. Physical Relations for Comets and Meteors |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=113 |pages=464–474 |doi=10.1086/145416 |bibcode=1951ApJ...113..464W |doi-access=free }}</ref> and by breakup. Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its [[orbit]], some of its ice vaporizes and a certain amount of meteoroids are shed. The meteoroids spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid stream, also known as a "dust trail" (as opposed to a comet's "dust tail" caused by the very small particles that are quickly blown away by solar radiation pressure).

The frequency of [[Fireball (meteor)|fireball]] sightings increases by about 10–30% during the weeks of [[Equinox|vernal equinox]].<ref name="fireball season NASA">{{cite web |first=Tony |last=Phillips |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/31mar_springfireballs/ |title=Spring is Fireball Season |publisher=science.nasa.gov |access-date=2011-09-16 |archive-date=2011-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403023239/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/31mar_springfireballs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Even [[meteorite]] falls are more common during the [[Northern Hemisphere|northern hemisphere]]'s spring season. Although this phenomenon has been known for quite some time, the reason behind the anomaly is not fully understood by scientists. Some researchers attribute this to an intrinsic variation in the meteoroid population along Earth's orbit, with a peak in big fireball-producing debris around spring and early summer. Others have pointed out that during this period the ecliptic is (in the northern hemisphere) high in the sky in the late afternoon and early evening. This means that fireball radiants with an asteroidal source are high in the sky (facilitating relatively high rates) at the moment the meteoroids "catch up" with Earth, coming from behind going in the same direction as Earth. This causes relatively low relative speeds and from this low entry speeds, which facilitates survival of meteorites.<ref>Langbroek, Marco; ''Seizoensmatige en andere variatie in de valfrequentie van meteorieten'', Radiant (Journal of the Dutch Meteor Society), 23:2 (2001), p. 32</ref> It also generates high fireball rates in the early evening, increasing chances of eyewitness reports. This explains a part, but perhaps not all of the seasonal variation. Research is in progress for mapping the orbits of the meteors to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon.<ref name="camera network NASA">{{cite web |first=Dauna |last=Coulter |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/01mar_meteornetwork/ |title=What's Hitting Earth? |publisher=science.nasa.gov |date=2011-03-01 |access-date=2011-09-16 |archive-date=2020-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525193605/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/01mar_meteornetwork/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>