How Do Meteor Showers Get Their Names and What Is the Most Visible Meteor Shower Every Year?

Meteor showers are given the name of the constellation in which the radiant appears.

The Perseids, for example, are seen in the constellation Perseus; the Geminids in Gemini; and the Orionids in Orion.

The most visible meteor shower for many years are the Perseids, which peak on August 12 of each year at over 1 meteor a minute.

But the most spectacular meteor shower is probably the Leonids, or the King of Meteor Showers, which peaks around 17 November every year.

About every 33 years the Leonid shower produces a meteor storm, with thousands of meteors falling per hour.

In more recent scientific terminology, stony meteorites are called aerates; stony-iron are known as siderolites; and iron are termed siderltes.