COMETS, ASTEROIDS & METEOR SHOWERS

Racing through space and crashing into Earth’s atmosphere, All About Space discovers the space rocks that litter our Solar System

Colin Stuart

Every 133 years, Comet Swift-Tuttle makes its return to the inner Solar System. It last made an appearance in 1992. Each time it nears the Sun, this speeding ball of ice, rock and dust grows a tail that deposits a glittering trail in its wake. Every year our planet moves through this, causing the dust particles left behind to come crashing through the atmosphere. Most of them are tiny, but as they burn up 100 kilometres (60 miles) above our heads they leave a bright streak of light. We call this a meteor, or ‘shooting star’. The space between the planets and around Earth’s orbit is full of dust, so every night there will be one or two random meteors. When Earth travels through the cloudy trail of dust left…

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All About Space Annual (Digital) - 1 Issue, All About Space Annual (2024)

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