Meteor showers are among the most enjoyable astronomy events, with shooting stars streaking through the sky as Earth plows through a field of debris left behind by a comet.
Meteor showers are among the most enjoyable astronomy events, with shooting stars streaking through the sky as Earth plows through a field of debris left behind by a comet. Most meteor showers throughout the year are predictable, but the end of Memorial Day weekend will bring a celestial wild card that could outshine every other meteor shower of 2022. Or it may not. On Monday night into Tuesday morning, the Earth may cross paths with the remnants of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (SW3), a defunct comet that broke apart in 1995. After SW3 splintered into countless pieces nearly three decades ago, debris from the breakup could intersect the Earth at the end of Memorial Day weekend. If this comes to fruition, it could spark a brief but intense meteor shower over North America. The viewing window for the potential meteor storm is anticipated to last only about 30 minutes, spanning from 12:45 to 1:17 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, according to the American Meteor Society.
„We believe that this event has a chance of being something spectacular“, the AMS explained on its website.
