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Ultima Thule (Episode 21) - Cometary Meteorology
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What is a meteor shower and how is it different from the lone fireball streaking across the sky? It turns out that meteor showers don't come from asteroids but instead comets. In fact, debris from meteor showers, unlike fireballs, very rarely ever make it to the ground, burning up on the way down. This has made it extremely difficult for scientists to study remnants from comets on Earth so instead scientists decided to leave Earth and go to them. The first mission to a comet - Giotto - was a huge international undertaking to chase down the most famous of them all - Halley's Comet. With the success of Giotto, multiple other missions have since gone to other comets around the solar system bringing back exciting results with glimpses into the Universe and even the possible origins of life. Finally, we learn about the greatest meteor storms in recorded history and how it led to people believing that they were living through the end of the world. (21/29)
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