Whoa! Tau Herculid meteors might be intense!
Heads up! On May 30-31, 2022, we might have a brief-but-intense
meteor display, thanks to a comet that split apart in 1995 and is
apparently still fragmenting. It might happen, as Earth passes
through a particularly dense stream of icy particles which the comet
left behind in the years 1995, 1897 and 1892.
If it does happen, well see a grand display of meteors! And, even
if it doesnt, this comet is one youll want to come to know.
The meteor shower is the Tau Herculids (
https://bit.ly/3yUfBt2). Its
parent comet is 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, aka SW3.
Astronomers found this comet in 1930. It orbits the sun every 5.4
years. And the comet will be in our evening sky again, in July and
August 2022. Its not an intrinsically bright comet. But its an
exceptionally interesting comet. In 1995, astronomers watched as
this comet began to fracture and litter its orbit with an increasing
amount of debris.
Thats why, by some recent calculations, the May 2022 Tau Herculid
meteor shower spawned by SW3 might be an intense display.
Bill Cooke, who leads NASAs Meteoroid Environment Office, said:
This is going to be an all or nothing event. If the debris from SW3
was traveling more than 220 miles per hour (354 kph) when it
separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower. If the
debris had slower ejection speeds, then nothing will make it to
Earth and there will be no meteors from this comet.