Meteor Shower: First Ever Camelopardalid Approaches Earth; Must Watch for Skygazers

This May, skygazers can see a meteor shower beautifying the sky like never before. On the night of 23 May and early morning of 24 May 2014, a new meteor called as Camelopardalids will take place as the Earth passes through debris left by a comet , according to Space Reporter.

The comet named Comet 2009P/LINEAR was discovered by automated observing campaign in 2004, reported Accuweather. As Comet 2009P/LINEAR passes close to the sun, it will leave behind small pieces of rock and ice and the shower will occur as our planet sails through these  debris left behind by the comet. As the debris approach the Earth's atmosphere, it will heat up and form "shooting stars" that will amaze the eyes of sky gazers.

Most of the meteor showers are predictable, as it shows up around the same time every year, yet this is the first time that Earth will pass through debris left behind by the comet.

Comet 209P/LINEAR is a very pale comet that completes one orbit around the Sun every five years. It was only discovered by the initiative of Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research, which is carried out by the United States Air Force, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and NASA, reported Space Reporter.

The next meteor shower will be of the Perseids and Orionids, which will occur on the night of 12 August and 21 October respectively, according to StarDate.

Astronomers explained that Camelopardalids have the potential to grace the sky and produce huge meteors every hour as bits of debris reach the Earth's atmosphere and burns up. It is expected that the observers back on earth, can see about 100 to 400 meteors per hour and the moonlight won't interfere the shower.