I took this photograph during the recent Orionid meteor shower. Like other meteor showers, it occurs at the same time every year. Why?
Answer:
The meteors from these showers are debris from comets. Each comet has a set orbit around the Sun, and that orbit tends to be littered with tiny bits of rock. When the Earth passes through that dirty orbit, the bits of rock enter our atmosphere as meteors. Because the comets have a set orbit, we move through the debris at the same point every year.
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