Known as ‘Tau Herculidas’, a meteor shower will flood the night sky on May 30 and 31, 2022, following the outburst of a comet.
It is not the first time that humanity has encountered a astronomical event so showy. By contrast, in 1995, the sudden appearance of a comet suddenly lit up the night sky. With an atypical intensity, it crossed the celestial vault “until it became invisible to the naked eye,” according to documents Space. Later, exploded.
This event is the first record of an unexpected meteor shower. Historically, it is known as the Tau Herculids: an intense meteor shower, caused by the outbreak of a comet passing close to Earth around May. In 2022, this same celestial body will visit the vicinity of our planet. And it could erupt.
This is what we know.
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A disintegrating comet
The first time he learned of the comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 It was in 1930. A team of German astronomers recorded its passage close to Earth, from the Hamburg Observatory. Almost a century after its discovery, the same celestial body will pass 9.2 million kilometers from our planet. In its wake, it may leave the second meteor shower of May.
Although it passed close to Earth at the time, it was not visible to the naked eye. The specialists used ‘moderately complex’ telescopes. Over the years, they realized that the same comet it approached our planet every 5.4 yearsabout.
In fact, astronomers already knew that SW3 would appear again in the mid-1990s. They also hoped that it would not give a showy show, since i never did. Nevertheless, shone 400 times brighter to what it had done so far, breaking into 4 pieces. By 2006, the comet had disintegrated into dozens of different fragments, according to Hubble observations.
Tau Herculidas: will there really be a meteor shower at the end of May 2022?
When a comet disintegrates near Earth, the probability of a meteor shower is high. Such is the case, according to NASAof the Tau Herculidas this May 30 and 31. According to the records of Spacethe Tau Herculids meteor shower is “ranked the best of the annual meteor displays.”
In fact, some astronomers say that this could be the heaviest meteor shower in more than 20 years. If so, it will be visible in this region of the celestial vault:
“If this meteor burst were to happen, its possible radiant or point of emanation would be located within the constellation Bootes the Herdsman, about 6 degrees north-northwest of the bright yellow-orange star, Arcturus,” documents Space.
The territories in which the Tau Herculidas will be visible, according to the platform, correspond to “a large part of the USAsouth-central and eastern Canada (including the Maritime Provinces), Mexico, Central and South America and a small portion of West Africa«.
Since there will be a New Moon on those nights, the sky will be completely dark. This promotes that the observation of the possible meteor shower is even sharperin spaces with little Light pollution. Still, astronomers warn that the Tau Herculids could go completely unnoticed. Everything will depend on how comet SW3 continues to disintegrate.
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