Why are there annual meteor showers like the Leonids and Perseids?

Question

I understand that meteor showers are due to the Earth passing through the debris left by a comet, but shouldn’t the Earth clear out any lingering meteors after a few revolutions?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

yo it’s like a cosmic game of dodgeball. earth passes through this junk every year cause comets leave trails of crumbs. so we get these showers that are pretty cool… can’t complain