62 New Meteor Showers Discovered

Image by Jimmy Westlake

Every now and again, biologists turn up a bonanza of new species deep in the ocean or in remote corners of the Earth. But astronomers usually have to make do with a trickle of new discoveries, spotting a rare supernova here or a couple of backwards planets there.

Now, researchers in Canada report finding an incredible 62 new meteor showers, displays of ’shooting stars’ that recur every year when Earth passes through the trail of debris left behind by a comet or asteroid.

via Found: 62 meteor showers new to science – space – 23 September 2009 – New Scientist.

Quite a find and a testament to how little we know about our own local space neighborhood.

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