An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Same as → cosmic-ray shower.

→ air; → shower.

Multiple generations of secondary cosmic rays when the primary particles produce a succession of secondaries which have the same effects as the primary.

→ cascade; → shower.

An extensive (many kilometres wide) → cascade of ionized particles and electromagnetic radiation produced in the atmosphere when a → primary cosmic rays collides with atmospheric nuclei creating many → secondary cosmic rays. Also known as → air shower.

→ cosmic; → ray; → shower.

An increased number of → meteors all appearing to → diverge from the direction of a single point, called → radiant. Meteor showers occur → annually on the same dates, when the Earth crosses through a → meteoroid stream. Meteor showers are named after the → constellation in which the radiant is located. For example, the → Perseids's radiant lies near the top of the constellation Perseus. Most meteor showers are caused by → comets. As a comet orbits the Sun it sheds an icy, dusty → debris stream along its orbit. When the Earth's orbit intersects the dust trail, more meteors are seen as the cometary debris encounters our planet's → atmosphere. In the case of the → Geminids and → Quadrantids, those meteor showers come from the debris scattered by orbiting → asteroids. Typical meteor showers show 15 to 100 meteors per hour at their peak. On very rare occasions, during a → meteor storm, thousands of meteors fall per hour. Prominent meteor showers are: → Quadrantids, → Lyrids, → Eta Aquariids, → Delta Aquariids, → Perseids, → Orionids, → Taurids, → Leonids, → Geminids, → Ursids, → Alpha Capricornids.

→ meteor; → shower.

1) A brief, abrupt precipitation from a cloud, characterized by the suddenness with which it begins and ends and by the rapid changes in intensity.
2) An abundant flow; an outpouring, such as → cosmic-ray shower; → air shower; → meteor shower.

M.E. shour; O.E. scur "short fall of rain, fall of missiles or blows;" cf. O.N. skur, O.S., O.H.G. scur, Ger. Schauer.

Ragbâr "cloudburst," from rag "cloudburst; thunder," → rain + bâr "raining, rain," from bâridan, → rain.
Tondbâr, with tond "fast," → velocity.

A → meteor that is part of a group moving in the same orbit around the Sun. → meteor shower.

→ meteor; → shower.