June 10, 2022
The Arietids meteor shower reaches the peak rate of meteors today. The radiant for the Arietids meteor shower lies in the constellations of Aries and Perseus. However, the Sun lies near these constellations during the peak of this shower, which makes the shower itself difficult to see. The Arietids are one of the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year, averaging 60 meteors per hour.
The source of this meteor shower is unknown; however, it is suspected to be leftover material from either the asteroid 1566 Icarus (left – radar image by Goldstone Observatory) or the comet 96P/Machholz (right – STERO-A image). Image credits left: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR, right: NASA