Photo by Open Clip-Art Vectors
This Meteor Shower Is Sure To Light Up Your Night
By Thomas Kwan
Meteor showers are a sight to behold. You can witness the universe’s natural wonders for the next two nights if you are lucky.
According to NASA, we can expect a possibility of meteor showers tonight and Tuesday night. You will be able to watch a live stream of this meteor shower from the comfort of your own home. If viewing conditions aren’t optimal for you, the tau Herculids meteor shower has the potential to be a so-called “meteor storm” capable of having 1,000 shooting stars or more per hour. Tonight as the Earth passes through comet debris from 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3.
Bill Cooke, a NASA astronomer who tracks meteor showers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, has said it all depends on the speed of the material from the comet.
“If the debris from SW 3 was traveling more than 220 miles [354 kilometers] per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower,” said Cooke in a recent statement.
“You can watch the meteor shower live overnight Monday and early Tuesday in the live stream above from the Virtual Telescope Project led by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi in Ceccano, Italy. The live stream will begin at 12 am EDT or 0400 GMT on May 31 and will feature all-sky cameras in Arizona and Brazil,” said Masi from Space.com
According to NASA, Meteor showers occur when Comets and other debris disintegrate across the sky: The Comet 73P was first discovered in 1930, orbiting the sun once every 5.4 years, it has the possibility of causing a meteor shower, but scientists aren’t 100% sure, that we will get the show that everyone is expecting, though an impressive meteor shower or storm is possible. Cooke has said it all depends on the speed of the material from the comet.
“If the debris from SW 3 was traveling more than 220 miles [354 kilometers] per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower,” said Bill Cooke, a NASA astronomer at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in a recent statement. “If the debris had slower ejection speeds, then nothing will make it to Earth, and there will be no meteors from this comet,” said Cooke.
Space is home to some of the most beautiful natural wonders, living in a day and age where you don’t even need to leave the couch to witness some of the most spectacular celestial events.
If you want to watch the live stream, it is on NASA.com, so you can witness what could be one of the best meteor showers of our lifetime.
You can also watch it directly from the Virtual Telescope Project at the start time.
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