The Dow Hercules meteor shower could illuminate the night sky over North America

The Dow Hercules meteor shower could illuminate the night sky over North America

Those who look at the night sky in North America will often see Dove Hercules rain NASA recommends The best time to visit is 1am on the East Coast or 10pm on the West Coast. The moon is new, so there will be no moonlight to cover the meteorites.

NASA insisted that even though the sky was clear and dark, the dazzling view was not guaranteed. It has nowhere to go.

Officially known as 73P / Schwassmann-Wachmann or SW3, the comet was discovered in 1930 by German observers Arnold Schwarzmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann. It was not rediscovered until the late 1970s, and the comet disintegrated into several pieces in the 1990s, NASA said.

By the time SW3 crossed the Earth again in 2006, it was nearly 70 pieces and has been further fragmented since then, the report said.

NASA says the Spitzer Space Telescope observations, released in 2009, show that some of the pieces are moving as fast as the pieces visible to astronauts.

About 30 meteor showers occur each year as they cross the Earth’s path with debris left by a comet or asteroid, which is visible to the naked eye.

Some meteorites are centuries old. For example, the Perseid meteor shower, which occurs every August, was observed and recorded by Chinese astronomers about 2,000 years ago. NASA reports. New meteor showers like this, when they come into effect, are relatively rare.

‘All or nothing event’

Debris from SW3 hits the Earth’s atmosphere more slowly than other meteor showers, and it’s faster than the amount of precipitation.

For example, even though they are known, meteorites are much fainter than that Eta Aquariids meteorite earlier this month.
“It’s all or nothing. If the debris from SW3 travels more than 220 miles per hour as it separates from the comet, we can see a nice meteor shower. Bill Cook heads NASA’s Meteorological Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Said in a statement.

Robert Lunsford, secretary-general of the International Meteorological Organization, said the meteor shower was named “Dove Hercules” but was mistaken for a galaxy in the night sky. He said they would emerge from the galaxy Boots, northwest of the brilliant orange star Arcturus (Alpha Booties).

“Radiation will be a large part of the sky and not a point, so any dull meteorite can be expected from SW3 from this general area of ​​the sky,” Lanceford said in a statement. Website.

“You do not have to look straight ahead as meteors can appear in any part of the sky. Because one of these heights looks straight ahead when looking at the most dense part of the sky, they are more likely to actually appear at lower altitudes in the sky. Atmosphere. Upwards. “

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More meteor showers

Dove Hercules If the rain turns bitter, do not be afraid, there are many chances of meteor showers this year.

Delta fisheries are best seen from the southern tropics, and the moon peaks 74% between July 28 and 29.

Interestingly, that same night another meteor shower peaked – alpha capricornits. Although it rains very lightly it is known to produce some bright fireballs during its peak. Everyone knows that it is located on every side of the equator.

The Perseid meteor shower, the most popular of the year, peaks in the Northern Hemisphere between August 11 and 12, when the Moon is only 13% full.

The year-round meteor shower schedule is here, according to Earthsky’s meteor shower overview
  • October 8: Dragonites
  • October 21: Orionites
  • November 4-5: Southern Darits
  • November 11 to 12: Northern Darits
  • November 17: Leonids
  • December 13 to 14: Gemini
  • Dec. 22: Orchids

Ashley Strickland contributed to this report.

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