So there is an article here
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/09/science/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-earth
It speaks about a meteor that will be here in October and not return for 80000 years. I’m just wondering, why do meteors come back?
I assume it takes a lot of force to change the trajectory of a meteor, so wouldn’t it move in the same general direction forever and never come back?
In: Planetary Science
Not a meteor, a meteor shower. There is a difference.
A meteor, refers to a rock that falls through Earth’s atmosphere and burns up. Sometimes a piece will make it all the way to the surface and leave a crater.
A meteor *shower* refers to an event where a bunch of tiny meteors are visible in the sky. Most of them are incredibly tiny. And there is one reliable and repeatable way to find lots of tiny particle in space. To pass through the orbit of a comet.
All of the major meteor showers are associated with a comet. Every time it orbits near to the sun, the solar rays heat it up and form the tail of dust and water leaving the comet. That dust sticks around. And when Earth passes through the dust trail, we get a meteor shower.
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