what does the moon have to do with a meteor shwer?

Answer 1

Nothing directly. However, there are a number of indirect effects of the moon.

First, if the moon is full or in the region of the shower, you will not be able to see much of the shower. That is a simple matter of sunlight reflecting off the moon.

Second, the moon does act like a filter around the earth, stopping a lot of the debris that might have continued on to the earth and appearing as a meteor.

Third, the moon does change the orbit of debris so some of the stuff that would have continued in space gets its direction changed and it heads for earth and we see some of that as meteors.

But as far as the moon having any direct relationship to the meteors, IE: the meteors only come during a new moon, there is none. The meteors come one way or the other and if we had no moon, there would not be much difference.

Answer 2

Nothing.
Except a bright moon (near full) will wash out all but the brightest meteor streaks.
The best viewing for a meteor shower is when the moon is close to new moon (which means very little moonlight to wash out the stars and meteors).

Answer 3

A lot of things.

Yes, its light can get in the way of observation or it can accent it, but there are some more important things.

1. We have found asteroids from Mars on Earth, this is very rare, it would be much more likely to find asteroids that had been blasted free of the moon's gravity and ended up falling to earth. The asteroid impact that hit the Tyco crater, and almost split the moon in half HAD to create a ring of lunar matter that filled the earth moon system and some of it had to end up on the earth. However, the moon was once part of the earth, lunar rocks are like earth rocks; only lighter. A planet the size of Mars was part of the debris field that we now know of as the asteroid belt. When the planets formed the planet forming here was torn apart by the tug of the sun and Jupiter. Once piece of that planet hit the earth and knocked off a huge chunk, which developed into our moon.

2. It stands in mute testimony to the number of comet and asteroid collisions we have had in the history of our planet. Erosion has gotten rid of most of the craters, but it hasn't happened on the moon and we can see crater on top of crater on top of crater. Until we went to the moon and studied the rock there we thought the earth was safe from asteroids and that the craters on the moon were the result of volcanism.

3. The Moon as acts like a small shield sucking in stray matter that passes our way. Every rock or comet that hits the moon is one less that won't hit us and if they come that close then the chances of them hitting us eventually are pretty high; say 1 in 2,000 when the chances of any stray rock or comet hitting us is much less say 1 in 20,000. I am not saying that the moon sucks in ten times the matter that the earth sucks in I am saying that of all the asteroids and comets only a few are NEO (Near Earth Orbiting) and of those a significant portion are absorbed by the moon.

Answer 4

The Moon brightens the sky, making it more difficult to see the meteor shower. If you want to watch a meteor shower near the full moon, it's best to do it before moonrise.