# Do all meteor showers come from the east? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809 "2019-11-22T07:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/1 "2019-11-22T07:04:23Z")
I was reading [this article](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/how-to-see-intense-unicorn-meteor-storm-alpha-monocerotids/) about last night’s meteor shower. It points out that “observers should face the eastern sky to see the most meteors”. From what I think I know about the rotation of the earth, the earth’s orbit and meteor showers, this seems redundant to me - don’t all meteor showers by necessity come from the east, i.e. have their [apparent radiant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_(meteor_shower)) in the eastern sky? After all, that’s the side of the earth that is facing in the direction of travel along its orbit and thus the side that will be hit by any debris in the earth’s way. Yes? ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/2 "2019-11-22T08:17:07Z")
For the most part, yes – but there’s at least one exception. You have to look north to see the [Ursids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursids), since its radiant is in Ursa Minor. [Comet Tuttle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8P/Tuttle), the comet that leaves the debris for the Earth to hit to make Ursids, has a highly inclined orbit that doesn’t quite get inside of Earth’s orbit, so we don’t hit its dust head-on. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/3 "2019-11-22T09:59:34Z")
I don’t see how it’s _redundant_ - presumably the NG readership aren’t all experienced amateur astronomers, so it’s just good advice to people who wouldn’t know that fact. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/4 "2019-11-22T11:07:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I don’t see how it’s _redundant_ - presumably the NG readership aren’t all experienced amateur astronomers, so it’s just good advice to people who wouldn’t know that fact. Yes, sorry, that was poorly worded on my part. I guess what I was missing was half a sentence along the lines of “As with all meteor showers, …” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/5 "2019-11-22T11:44:03Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > Yes, sorry, that was poorly worded on my part. I guess what I was missing was half a sentence along the lines of “As with all meteor showers, …” Yeah, that would be a good add (or "“_Almost_ all”, as **Kimble** indicates) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/6 "2019-11-22T11:54:00Z")
And of course, it also depends on what time of night you’re looking. The best views will be in the early morning, if you’re willing to get up early. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-meteor-showers-come-from-the-east/843809/7 "2019-11-22T12:31:23Z")
Long-exposure photos I’ve seen of meteor showers have a definite radiant, but don’t have any obvious bias to the east. [https://naturephotodigest.com/photographing-perseid-meteor-shower-video/](https://naturephotodigest.com/photographing-perseid-meteor-shower-video/) > **[The Perseid meteor shower continues Thursday night. Here's how to watch it.](https://www.vox.com/2015/8/12/9131887/perseid-meteor-shower)** > > Head outside to see our planet pass through a cloud of burning cosmic dust. This one’s a sketch, but shows the same result: > **[Homepage | Department of Physics and Astronomy](https://as.tufts.edu/physics)** > > Homepage When I’ve watched meteor showers myself at night, I haven’t noticed any tendency to come from any particular direction (except away from the radiant)