The next big meteor shower is weeks away – at least, here on Earth. But some predictions say that a big shower could take place this weekend on the planet Venus – a result of the long-ago break-up of an asteroid.

Regardless of where it takes place, a meteor shower happens when a planet flies through the orbital path of a comet or asteroid. Bits of rock and dust shed by the small body ram into the planet’s atmosphere at high speed. They heat up and vaporize, forming the glowing streaks known as meteors.

In this case, the source of the particles could be two asteroids. They have a similar composition, and they follow similar paths around the Sun.

A team of European astronomers recently plotted the orbits of the two bodies a hundred-thousand years into the past. The study found that, about 20,000 years ago, both asteroids passed especially close to the Sun many times. And the asteroids were so close to each other that they could have been one larger asteroid.

Warmed by the Sun, the surface of the asteroid could have cracked and splintered. The way the asteroid heated up could have caused it to spin faster. The weakened asteroid then split apart, spewing debris into space. Venus periodically slips through this trail of debris – perhaps triggering a meteor shower.

From Earth, only the brightest of those meteors might be visible through a telescope – streaking through Venusian skies.

Script by Damond Benningfield