The National Oceanography and Atmospheric Science Authority (NOOA) explained that meteorites are tiny particles that are usually the debris of comets.
If a meteoroid meets Earth’s upper atmosphere, it vaporizes in an event called a meteor. If the object is large enough and survives to hit the ground, then it is called a meteorite.
Comets are little more than tiny balls of ice orbiting the Earth. Sol. When the Sun heats a comet, the ice vaporizes into gas.
If anyone has ever seen a comet, or a photograph of a comet, they will notice that the comet’s tail points away from the Sun.
It was in 1930 that German astronomers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann discovered this comet, which orbits the Sun every 5.4 years.
Years later, NASA explained, researchers noticed that the comet had become regarding 600 times brighter and discovered that SW3 had broken into several pieces, leaving behind a trail full of fragments.
Also, Spitzer Space Telescope observations published in 2009 indicate that at least some fragments are moving faster, which excites astronomers.
If the forecasts were fulfilled, the Earth would cross part of that trail of comet fragments, thus giving rise to a spectacular escape of up to 1,000 stars every hour.
“This is going to be an all-or-nothing event,” said Bill Cooke, who directs NASA’s Meteoroid Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“If the SW3 fragments travel at more than 220 miles per hour (354 km/h), we might see a good meteor shower. But if they have slower speeds, then nothing will reach Earth and there will be no meteors,” said the expert.
The best night to observe it also coincides with the Moon in the new moon phase, so there will be a minimum of natural light pollution, an environment that favors the search for shooting stars.
In any case, if the meteor shower occurs, it will only last a few minutes in the night sky, as we mentioned before.
NASA says that meteor showers are not dangerous. Most meteorites burn up in the atmosphere, which means it’s nearly impossible for them to reach Earth and do any damage. It is incredibly unlikely for a meteor to hit the earth and even if it did, the chance of it hitting you or your property is even less.