Suppose an intense meteor shower occurs on a certain date this year, but there was no shower last year on that date, and it turns out that there is no shower next year on that date. A likely explanation is that:
A)this year Earth passed through the orbit of a recently disintegrated comet, one for which the debris is not yet distributed along the entire orbit.
B)a small comet has passed through Earth's atmosphere.
C)the meteor shower is the remnant of a comet that had a semimajor axis larger than 1 au and a period longer than 1 year.
D)the debris along the orbit was mostly fine dust, which has been blown away by the solar wind.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that there was no shower last year and there will be no shower next year suggests that the source of the meteor shower is not a regular occurrence. Option A provides a likely explanation for this: Earth passed through the orbit of a recently disintegrated comet, one for which the debris is not yet distributed along the entire orbit. This would account for the singular occurrence of the meteor shower on this date.

Suppose an Intense Meteor Shower Occurs on a Certain Date