Meteor shower

Earth is expected to pass through the debris trail of a broken-up comet on Monday night and it could result in a brand new meteor shower.

So any slow meteor from this general area of the sky can be expected to be from SW3," Lunsford said in a blog post. Interestingly, another meteor shower peaks on the same night -- the Alpha Capricornids. Although this is a much weaker shower, it has been known to produce some bright fireballs during its peak. "You need not look directly overhead as meteors may appear in any portion of the sky. He said they will appear to radiate from a constellation known as Bootes, northwest of the brilliant orange star known as Arcturus (alpha Bootis). The moon is new, so there will be no moonlight to obscure the meteors. If the debris from SW3 was traveling more than 220 miles per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower.

The shower, dubbed the Tau Herculid shower, will be an "all or nothing" event and if it happens, 1000 shooting stars could fill the skies.

The shower's direction will also be high in the sky at peak times. Astronomers are not certain whether the meteor shower will happen because the comet's debris should be traveling at 10 miles per second—a slow speed when compared to other meteors. It was discovered that the comet continued to shatter, causing it to shine about 600 times brighter. Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the fragmented remains of a comet or asteroid. But if it does, the sky could be filled with a thousand shooting stars. Since then, it has continued to break apart.

Observers in North America will have the best view, but there's no guarantee that the Tau Herculids will put on a light show.

People living in areas where the sky will be bright, such as in Australia, can watch the meteor shower online at the Virtual Telescope Project. Astronomer Peter Brown from Western University said as many as 30 to 40 meteors may be visible each hour, but it could be more. The meteor shower will peak at 1:00 a.m. ET on the morning of May 31, or 10:00 p.m. PT on the evening of May 30. Excitingly, observations made with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in 2009 “indicate that at least some fragments are moving fast enough,” and “this is one reason why astronomers are excited,” the space agency added. This meteor shower is produced by debris from Comet 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 3, and it’s typically very quiet, but the situation is a bit different this year. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 was discovered in the 1930s and it orbits the Sun once every 5.4 years.

In clear conditions, you can see several meteor showers a year. But, there's some uncertainty surrounding one for tonight, but if it does happen, the ...

It is suspected, it might be going through this cloud of debris of these particles that have broken up. Projections on its sustainability are only around a half hour to an hour, “They are only projections because this cloud of debris from the comet is moving through space, and its orbits are being changed by the other planets. So, it is not a sure thing.

If you're hoping to see the potential tau Herculids meteor shower, NASA advises you to check the weather and be ready for the unexpected.

Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out your photo session. (Your culture may use different names for these regions, for which we are using the International Astronomical Union monikers.) The peak time to watch is around 1 a.m. on the east coast or 10 p.m. on the west coast, according to NASA. For your best sighting possible, bring a lawn chair, move away from artificial lights as much as possible, and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Even if the meteors strike our atmosphere, however, the tau Herculids are moving slowly by meteor standards and will generate a faint show, NASA warned. Back then, the most optimistic predictions said there could be an outburst of 400 to 1,000 meteors per hour, although the agency did warn in 2019 that the show could end up being a bust. But astronomers are excited about the potential of a swarm of new shooting stars nonetheless.

In clear conditions, you can see several meteor showers a year. But, there's some uncertainty surrounding one for tonight, but if it does happen, the ...

It is suspected, it might be going through this cloud of debris of these particles that have broken up. Projections on its sustainability are only around a half hour to an hour, “They are only projections because this cloud of debris from the comet is moving through space, and its orbits are being changed by the other planets. So, it is not a sure thing.