Comet 73P-3,s period is 5.4 years wnereas Tau Herculids-associated with S-W3 shower is catalogued as may 19th to June 19th
2006-09-27 20:10:55 · 4 answers · asked by ponnusamykasi thangarajan 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The dust clouds that are left behind comets stay in the same basic place b/c of the comet's orbit and whatnot. The meteor shower is caused by the tail the comet leaves behind. We go through their tails, so a comet doesn't need to pass recently for us to have a meteor shower.
2006-09-27 20:24:48 · answer #1 · answered by Melani 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Kinda indicates that not all meteors are cometary debris, doesn't it? It seems more likely that a comet just happened to pass by during a meteor shower, so the shower and the comet were named the same. Otherwise you have to postulate a debris-filled orbit which the Earth passes through twice annually.
2006-09-28 03:27:39 · answer #2 · answered by Helmut 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, "melani" has it right. The whole orbit of the comet is a trail of comet debris in small fragments. As we cross the orbit at the same time each year, we see debris coming from the same angle each time. Different debris, but always in the same track.
2006-09-28 10:02:00 · answer #3 · answered by bh8153 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Check out the annual Perseid Meteor shower in August (if you're in the northern hemisphere, that is)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseid
2006-09-28 05:11:08 · answer #4 · answered by i_sivan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋