Artist’s impression. An asteroid's orbit is altered as it passes close to Jupiter, Earth or Venus, such that its new orbit takes it near the Sun. The intense heat from the Sun causes the asteroid's surface to expand and fracture, and some of the material breaks off. As the surface material disintegrates, it creates dust and pebbles that spread out along the asteroid's orbit with time. If the orbit of the dust and pebbles ever intersects Earth, it can create a meteor shower.