TORONTO-
Space enthusiasts could enjoy Monday as the Tau Herculid meteor shower is expected to illuminate the sky, depending on the speed and distance of the meteoroids.
According to NASA, the Earth will pass through debris tracks left by a broken comet that broke in 1995.
If these fragments of comet 73P / Schwassmann-Washmann (SW3) were ejected at twice the normal speed, spectators can expect a radiant spectacle.
“It would be a really spectacular meteor storm, people are quoting up to 1,000, meteors that would be visible by the hour,” astrophysicist and coordinator of the University of Mont’s Exoplanet Research Institute told CTVNews.ca -real, Nathalie Ouellette. a phone interview on Friday.
In comparison, a typical rainfall averages one meteor every minute, about 60 per hour, Outlete said. However, the speed and direction of the snippets will ultimately decide how much spectacle the audience will have.
“The problem is, because this is the first time we’ve been through this rubble field, we may actually be going right past it and we’ll miss most of the really good big chunks,” she said.
The leader of NASA’s Bureau of Meteorological Environment, Bill Cooke, described the rain as an “all-or-nothing” event.
“If SW3 debris traveled more than 220 miles per hour (354 kilometers per hour) when it separated from the comet, we could see a good meteor shower. If the debris had slower ejection rates, nothing would reach Earth. and there will be no meteors from this comet, “Cooke told the NASA blog post.
Although the actual speed of Tau Herculid rain will be slow, reaching speeds of only 16 kilometers per second (10 miles per second), the potential of a show is still there, as the actual size of the distribution is unknown. meteor mass. according to the International Meteorological Organization.
In addition, the current new moon will allow better optics during the rain.
“Normally, if you have a full moon during a meteor shower, it’s not that good because the moon is drowning the shooting stars,” Ouellette explained.
“Because we have a new moon, we’re actually going to have a pretty dark sky, so that’s good news.”
SW3 was discovered in 1930 by German observers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann. The comet was weak for most of its years until 1995, when it became 600 times brighter after being shattered and dragged debris on its trail.
According to NASA, American viewers can look for the shower at 1 a.m. for those on the east coast and at 10 p.m. for those on the west coast.
Ouellette’s advice to observers is to settle in a dark area and arrive early to allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“It takes about 20 minutes for your eyes to get used to a dark sky, so be patient and do whatever you do, don’t look at your phone because you will ruin your eyes for the next 20 minutes if you do,” he said. .