Washington: Stargazers and space enthusiasts living in the North American region are likely to witness meteor showers, according to NASA. Named ‘tau Herculid’ shower, it is forecast to peak on the night of May 30 and early morning of May 31. Meteor showers are caused by streams of comet and asteroid debris, which create many more flashes and streaks of light as Earth passes through the debris field. The tau Herculid shower, if it takes place, will be from a comet known as 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, or “SW3, which orbited the Sun every 5.4 years. “If the debris from SW3 was travelling more than 220 miles per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower,” Cooke said.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 30, 2022 18:37 UTC