Patrick Shober finds Earth passing through asteroid debris near Sun
Earth is currently passing through a debris field from an elusive asteroid that's breaking apart near the Sun.
NASA researcher Patrick Shober spotted this space rock while digging into data from observatories around the world.
As the asteroid crumbles, its pieces hit our atmosphere and light up as meteors, so if you catch a shooting star soon, it might be thanks to this cosmic breakup.
Researcher links 282 meteors to asteroid
Shober sifted through more than 235,000 meteor records and found 282 that seemed to come from the same source—this very asteroid.
He explained that meteor showers happen when Earth runs into debris left by asteroids or comets.
His research shows how even small, overlooked asteroids can put on a show in our skies and help scientists learn more about what's happening out there in space.