The world is looking forward to the tau Hercules meteor shower with thousands of meteors per hour, which will debut on May 31!
The parent comet of the τ Hercules meteor shower is Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3). It broke apart when it entered the inner solar system in 1995, leaving a large amount of debris in orbit, forming a meteoroid belt that approaches Earth every 16 years. Astronomers predict that around 13:00 Taiwan time on May 31 this year, when the earth passes through the meteoroid belt formed when Comet 73P split in 1995, it is very likely that there will be thousands of meteors per hour, but it is not ruled out. possibility of failure. Therefore, not only global meteor fans are looking forward to this possibly the most splendid meteor shower of the year, but astronomers are also taking precautions to verify the accuracy of their predictions with observations.
The best viewing area for this meteor shower is in North America. It was near the moon on the day, without the influence of moonlight, and the observation conditions were extremely good. The Taipei Planetarium website lists a number of local dark sky cameras and radio observation live broadcast sites in North America, as well as an alternative meteor shower perspective from the International Space Station looking down on the earth from a height of 400 kilometers, allowing local astronomers to witness this big event with the world. Great show of nature! In addition, due to the unpredictable drift and diffusion of the meteoroid belt, the timing of the meteor shower is highly uncertain, and it is likely to occur between May 28 and June 1. So at night, you might as well look up at the starry sky, maybe you just meet an unexpected surprise!
In addition to the meteoroid belt in 1995, at 0:00 am and 18:00 on the 31st, the earth will pass through the other two meteoroid belts produced by Comet 73P in 1892 and 1897. However, due to the much lower density, the expected number of meteors is also not much.
Observing the meteor shower does not require any equipment, as long as you try to avoid light pollution and choose a place with a wide field of vision to look up at the sky. For related astronomical information, please refer to the Taipei Planetarium website “Astronomical Knowledge – Astronomical Forecast”.
