History of Meteor shower in Timeline

A meteor shower is a celestial event where numerous meteors appear to radiate from a single point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by meteoroids, small cosmic debris, entering Earth's atmosphere at high speeds. Most meteors are tiny and disintegrate before hitting the surface. Intense showers are called meteor outbursts or storms, producing over 1,000 meteors per hour. The Meteor Data Centre lists over 900 suspected showers, with about 100 well-established. NASA and other organizations provide viewing information online.

1911: Death of George Johnstone Stoney

In 1911, Irish astronomer George Johnstone Stoney, who attempted to calculate the position of dust at Earth's orbit, died.

1917: Death of Arthur Matthew Weld Downing

In 1917, British astronomer Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, who attempted to calculate the position of dust at Earth's orbit, died.

1951: Fred Whipple demonstrates water vapor drag in comets

In 1951, Fred Whipple demonstrated that comets can produce debris by water vapor drag, envisioning comets as "dirty snowballs" made of rock embedded in ice.

1951: Fred Whipple proposes comets are 'dirty snowballs'

In 1951, Fred Whipple proposed that comets are "dirty snowballs". According to Whipple, comets shed meteoritic debris as their volatiles are ablated by solar energy in the inner Solar System.

1966: Leonid storm in 1966

In 1966, a Leonid storm occurred. The Leonid meteor shower peaks around November 17 each year.

1981: Donald K. Yeomans reviews history of meteor showers

In 1981, Donald K. Yeomans of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reviewed the history of meteor showers for the Leonids and the dynamic orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, publishing a graph in Sky and Telescope showing Earth and Tempel-Tuttle's relative positions and Earth's encounters with dense dust.

1985: Kondrat'eva and Reznikov identify years of dust release

In 1985, E. D. Kondrat'eva and E. A. Reznikov of Kazan State University correctly identified the years when dust was released, contributing to past Leonid meteor storms.

1994: Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impacts Jupiter

In 1994, Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impacted Jupiter, forming a brief trail.

1995: Peter Jenniskens predicts the 1995 Alpha Monocerotids outburst

In 1995, Peter Jenniskens predicted the 1995 Alpha Monocerotids outburst from dust trails.

1995: Demonstration of planetary gravitational pull on dust trails

In 1995, observations of the alpha Monocerotids demonstrated the effect of planetary gravitational pull on directing dust trails near Earth's orbit. This explained how Earth is sometimes showered by meteors and how trails can miss the Earth altogether in other years.

1999: McNaught, Asher, and Lyytinen apply method for Leonid storm prediction

In 1999, Robert H. McNaught, David Asher, and Esko Lyytinen were the first to apply the dust trail method in the West, anticipating the 1999 Leonid storm.

1999: Leonid storm in 1999

In 1999, a Leonid storm occurred. The Leonid meteor shower peaks around November 17 each year.

2001: Leonid storms in 2001

In 2001, two Leonid storms occurred. The Leonid meteor shower peaks around November 17 each year.

2002: Leonid storms in 2002

In 2002, two Leonid storms occurred. The Leonid meteor shower peaks around November 17 each year.

2003: Discovery of asteroid 2003 EH1

In 2003, asteroid (196256) 2003 EH1 was discovered. Peter Jenniskens argued that most short-period meteor showers originate from infrequent disintegrations of dormant comets, citing examples like the Quadrantids and Geminids, which originated from the breakup of asteroid-looking objects.

March 7, 2004: Spirit rover records possible Martian meteor

On March 7, 2004, the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recorded a streak believed to be a meteor from a Martian meteor shower associated with comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff.