Earth Now Flying Through a Debris Field, Paper Finds

NASA postdoctoral researcher Patrick Shober analyzed more than 235,000 meteors and fireballs and identified a cluster of 282 events tied to a small asteroid.

The asteroid appears to be breaking apart near the Sun, leaving a debris stream that Earth is currently moving through.

The finding could help astronomers detect tiny, hard-to-see asteroids and better understand how meteors and meteor showers form.

The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal and is linked to objects such as 3200 Phaethon and the Geminids.