Our planet will pass through a trail of wreckage.
Astronomers say that on May 30-31 residents Earths may be able to observe a new starfall. Such reports have sparked many rumors about the Tau Herculids (new meteor shower – ed.), Some of which are true and some are not, according to NASA.
The agency notes that often such events do not look so bright as expected. Therefore, the chances that the Tau Herculids will be a bright star fall are estimated at about 50 to 50.
Read also: Scientists have determined the size of a giant comet from the Oort Cloud
What is known about this meteor shower exactly
From the evening of May 30 to the morning of May 31, the Earth will pass through a train of fragments of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. It disintegrated into large fragments in 1995. Then these fragments continued to be destroyed. If such particles fly at a high enough speed to reach Earth, we will be able to observe a new starfall.
Observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2009 showed that at least some of them are moving fast enough. So scientists have started talking about a new starfall.
But if the starfall can still be seen, the meteors will move slowly and be dim. “We can't be sure we'll see it. We can only hope it's amazing,” NASA said. Earlier, astronomers from the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine discovered five exometas – comets orbiting a star in another system.
