When is the Earth likely to be hit by a meteor?
The Earth may be hit by 100 million meteors every day, about one hundred tons of them. Of these, only about 500 make it through the atmosphere each year, and of these, only about 10 are found. Most meteors are tiny grains of material, rarely larger than a marble, and burn up completely in the atmosphere. The majority are too faint even to be seen. At certain times of the year, we have what is called meteor showers, where 20 to 60 or more meteors may be seen per hour. The best known meteor shower is the Persied shower which peaks August 12th and 13th every year. Meteor showers are associated with the orbits of comets, and when the Earth passes through the comets orbit on its way around the Sun, some of the debris falls to Earth, and we have a shower.
