If the weather holds and the right space conditions are met, Manitobans will be able to see a spectacular meteor shower Monday night.
Scott Young, a planetary astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, said there is a possibility that a very significant meteor shower could be seen.
“There’s a possibility, and I insist on the possibility, of a major meteorite explosion. Basically, there will be a lot of stars falling at once,” Young said. “The reason it’s a possibility is the origin of this particular meteor shower, it’s not a normal comet … this is a slightly disintegrated comet, so it’s in all these pieces, which is “Good, if he’s coming in our direction. But because he’s broken, we can’t be sure he’s going to be close enough to cause these things.”
Young said that if the event happened, we could see thousands of meteors per hour, which would be “10 times better” than any other weather event in recent history.
Unfortunately, Young said people won’t know until it really happens.
He said the comet originally disintegrated in 1995 and that the space dust cloud it left behind has become wider and wider over the years. But if the waste doesn’t move fast enough, nothing will happen.
“So the thought is that the earth will reach the edge of the rubble cloud on Monday night … there’s a lot of solid science behind it, but it’s basically a mathematical prediction. Whether it happens or not, it will actually be real. “It’s a good test of our understanding of how these comets and meteor currents work after they disintegrate. It’s a good way to move forward in science, and if it happens, it will be a fun thing to see.”
Young said that even if space conditions are met, Manitoba will depend on the weather whether people will be able to see it or not, as the rain forecast will be very cloudy.
“All this activity goes above the level of the clouds. So if it rains here on earth, you won’t see anything.”
If the weather clears, Young suggests that people stay away from city lights and find a dark place, as this will give them the best chance to see the rain.
If the cloud cover is maintained, there is a different way the Manitoba Museum plans to find meteors.
“The museum will do a live broadcast and if it’s clear we’ll have a camera. If it’s not clear, we’ll actually use radio detection. If you listen to a radio station that’s too far away to pick it up, every now and then “When a meteor passes, the radio waves will bounce off the meteorite and you can listen to the radio station for a second. So we can actually listen to the meteors with a radio station.”
If it rains, it should start around 11:45 pm on Monday and last until 1:15 am on Tuesday.