Why Is it Difficult for Many People to See a Meteor Shower?

What causes a meteor show and why is it difficult for many people to see a meteor shower? A meteor shower occurs when a number of meteors radiate from a singular point in the sky. It is caused when meteoroids, at extremely high speeds, enter Earth’s atmosphere. The meteors themselves are extremely small, many not even bigger than a grain of sand. Thus, most disintegrate before they even hit the ground. If more than one thousand meteors are produced in an hour, this is considered a meteor outburst, or a meteor storm. However, what exactly is the origin of meteor showers? And, why is it so difficult to observe a meteor shower? Why is it difficult for so many people to see a meteor shower?

When a planet and debris from a comet collide, or interact, it results in a meteoroid stream. The comet debris results from a water vapor drag or when the comet breaks up. Comets are a composite of water, methane, ammonia, and other volatile substances. A comet then forms, ranging in size from a dust particle to a boulder. Smaller comets are more common than larger comets.

The “tail” of the comet forms when the ice of the comet melts and “drags” dust and sand. When a comet orbits the Sun then, more of its body is melted and this dust and sand are shed. This is a meteoroid. As the comet continues to orbit, this “tail” of meteoroid trails the comet and creates the familiar image of comets with a long dust trail behind it.

As the meteoroids get released from the comet, they can take different shapes depending upon if the gravity of certain planets affect them. As the meteoroids orbit the Sun, certain meteor showers can thus be observed every couple of years or every year. When parts of meteoroids are released from the comet, they can drift behind or in front of the comet, as Milos Plavec proved. The same amount of meteor showers isn’t seen on Earth from year to year, and rather the amount of meteoroids depends on a variety of factors.

In some years, there are very few meteor showers. In other years, such as 1995, a large amount of meteors can be observed in the Earth sky. The transparency of Earth’s atmosphere is what allows individuals to observe meteor showers. Similarly, Mars has meteor showers as well. These differ from the showers on Earth because of the way Mars’ orbit intersects with the comets and thus with the meteoroids.

There have been a number of famous meteor showers observed in the Earth sky. For example, the Perseids are the most visible meteor shower. The Perseids are the easiest to observe on August 12th each year, and can be up to over one meteor per minute. Although the Perseids are the most visible, the Leonids are considered the “King of Meteor Showers.” The Leonids peak around November 17th each year, and every thirty-three years the Leonids result in a couple of years of meteor storms. The last Leonid Storm was in 2002. 

Why Is it Difficult for Many People to See a Meteor Shower?

There are a number of potential reasons why people cannot see a meteor shower. First, people need to watch for the showers on their peak days—some days the showers will be much more visible than other days. However, the major reason is light pollution.

The interaction of air pollution with the large amount of light that remains on throughout the night in major cities produces this light pollution. The light reflects the smoke and the particles from the air pollution. This makes it difficult for people close to large sources of light pollution to see through the atmosphere to the meteor shower. In order to observe a meteor shower, you need to choose a location that has few or no lights.

Additionally, the visibility of the moon and the clarity of the sky can play a role in your ability to observe a shower. A clear night with no moon is the best weather in which to observe a meteor shower.