Meteor showers are formed by comets and asteroids that come close to the Sun. Heat from the Sun causes dust and rock to break off the body and gather into a collection of debris that moves along the body's orbital path. If Earth's orbit crosses this path, there is a meteor shower as the dust particles vaporize in Earth's atmosphere, about 90 km above Earth's surface.

Name	Pronunciation	Listen
The Quadrantids	kwa-DRAN-tids
The Lyrids	LYE-rids
The Eta Aquarids	AY-tah AK-wa-rids
The South Delta Aquarids	south DEL-tah AK-wa-rids
The Perseids	PUR-see-ids
The Orionids	o-RYE-o-nids
The South Taurids	south TOR-ids
The North Taurids	north TOR-ids
The Leonids	LEE-o-nids
The Geminids	GEM-e-nids
The Ursids	UR-sids