Are some of the asteroids in the Perseoid meteor shower large enough to land on Earth?

Question

And if so, shouldn't we be wearing crash helmets for the day (and night)?

Answer 1

Good question.

But first of all, we won't be seeing asteroids...they're meteors. Asteroids orbit the sun, and meteors are sand to boulder sized objects that enter and burn up in our atmosphere. Lastly, a meteorite is an object that survives entry through our atmosphere and doesn't burn up (meteorites hit the ground).

In any case, probably all of the meteors tomorrow night will be sand grain sized to regular sized rocks. These will all surely burn up in our atmosphere and not hit the ground.

But as for the astronauts up on the shuttle and in the ISS right now? That's another question!

Enjoy the shower. :)

Answer 2

There are *no* asteroids in the Perseid meteor shower. This meteor shower is caused by Earth passing through a trail of tiny bits and pieces of a comet that's now far away in space. The largest meteor will be no bigger than the tip of your little finger and have no chance of reaching the ground. Of course there are always those stray meteors that aren't from the comet's trail that could make it all the way down. Your chances of being hit by one are less than being struck by lightning, bit by a rattlesnake, and winning the lottery all at the same time

Answer 3

Well just the other day a guy here on answers said he saw a meteor and heard a large boom. It could very well have been an unusually large meteor that made it so far down through the atmosphere it made a sonic boom. But very rarely do meteors make it that far so helmets aren´t necessary.

Answer 4

Probably not. They have been hitting Earth every August for at least 100 years. Have you heard of any landing in all that time?

Answer 5

Keep dreaming... There is a slim chance that one or two could be large but the chances are slim...

Answer 6

Yes,yes.

Answer 7

no..i doubt it..