Friday May 27 2022 12:12 AM
Astronomers have reported that lovers of stars and unique phenomena will be on a date with an interesting celestial show at the end of this month.
According to the “RT” website, after the rare annual meteor showers “harps”, which decorated the Earth’s sky last month, sky watchers can follow the possible newcomer event to the sky, which is known as the tau Herculi meteor shower, where it is expected to reach It peaks on the night of May 30 and in the early morning hours of May 31.
These meteor showers come as a result of the collapse of a comet first discovered in 1930, which is known to orbit the sun every 5.4 years.
German observers, Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann, discovered the comet known as 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, or SW3.
SW3 remained completely dim until 1995, when astronomers realized that the comet had become about 600 times brighter and moved from a faint object to being visible to the naked eye as it passed. to scattering debris in its orbital path.
Also, by the time it passed through the Earth’s path back in 2006, it was made up of roughly 70 pieces, and has continued to fragment further ever since.
If it manages to reach us this year, NASA said, the SW3 debris will hit Earth’s atmosphere very slowly, traveling at just 16 km per second.
One of the year’s strongest meteor showers, Tau Herculid, is expected to peak on the night of May 30 and the morning of May 31.
“If debris from SW3 was traveling at more than 220 miles per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower. If the debris had slower ejection velocities, nothing would reach Earth,” Bill Cook, who leads NASA’s Meteorological Environment Office. There will be no meteors from this comet.”
North American stargazers will be in a better position to see the Tau Herculid display in the night sky at its expected prime time. The moon will also be in its new phase, which means that there will be no moonlight to hide the faint meteors.
Source: Technology: A crumbling comet could create an epic meteor shower in Earth’s sky next week