Meteor-Shower Parent Bodies
The comets and asteroids whose debris streams produce the annual meteor showers.
- (196256) 2003 EH1(196256)
An asteroid on a short-period, comet-like orbit believed to be a dormant or extinct comet nucleus — the parent body of the sharp, brief Quadrantid meteor shower.
TypeTransition objectDiscovered2003 - 3200 Phaethon(3200)
A near-Earth asteroid that brightens and sheds dust as it passes very close to the Sun — a 'rock comet' — and the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower, unusual for a shower whose source is an asteroid rather than a comet.
TypeTransition objectDiscovered1983 - Encke2P/Encke
The comet with the shortest known orbital period (about 3.3 years) and the parent of the Taurid meteor stream.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod3.3 yrDiscovered1786 - Giacobini–Zinner21P/Giacobini–Zinner
A Jupiter-family comet, parent of the Draconid meteor shower, and the first comet ever visited by a spacecraft — NASA's ICE probe flew through its tail in 1985.
TypeJupiter-family cometPeriod6.6 yrDiscovered1900 - Halley's Comet1P/Halley
The most famous comet, visible from Earth every ~76 years, whose return in 1986 was met by an international fleet including ESA's Giotto — and the parent of two annual meteor showers.
TypeHalley-type cometPeriod76 yr - Swift–Tuttle109P/Swift–Tuttle
A large Halley-type comet on a 133-year orbit, the parent body of the reliable Perseid meteor shower each August.
TypeHalley-type cometPeriod133 yrDiscovered1862 - Tempel–Tuttle55P/Tempel–Tuttle
The parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower, whose 33-year returns produce the periodic Leonid storms.
TypeHalley-type cometPeriod33 yrDiscovered1865 - ThatcherC/1861
A long-period comet on a roughly 415-year orbit, the parent body of the Lyrid meteor shower seen each April.
TypeLong-period cometPeriod415 yrDiscovered1861