The season of activity of the Hercules meteors falls from May 19 to June 19. Although the tau of Herculides does not offer the most impressive performances, there are many indications that this year will be different. Moreover, we will have the opportunity to observe them also from Poland.
Meteor showers are a phenomenon that occurs when our planet passes through a cloud of particles of matter left over by comets. From the surface of the Earth, we can then observe the “falling stars”, that is, bits of rock and ice that will not have time to burn out in the upper atmosphere of our planet, but fall to the bottom, pulling behind a fiery trail.
meteor showershutterstock | Illustrative image
“all or nothing”
The meteorites of Tau Hercules are the remnants of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. When rocks burn in the atmosphere, it appears on Earth as if it were flying by the Hercules cluster – hence the name.
Usually, the swarm does not give amazing performances. However, as Bill Cook of NASA’s Metroid Laboratory (MEO) predicts, the situation this year could be very different.
“It would be an all-or-nothing event,” Cook said. – It all depends on the speed with which the parts move. He explained that if the speed exceeds 350 kilometers per hour, we will see a real meteor shower, but if the speed is lower, there will be no meteors from this comet.
meteor showershutterstock | Illustrative image
The peak of the phenomenon this year was predicted last night – May 30-31, especially at 1 a.m. Eastern Time (EDT). In Poland, it was seven in the morning and it was light, because the sun had risen three hours earlier. Therefore, meteor watchers announced that they would try to see something in the early hours.
meteor shower stock struggle
space.com, NASA, tvnmeteo.pl
Main image source: stock struggle
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