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A decaying comet could create a meteor shower on May 30.
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The Tau Herculi meteor display may be one of the most dramatic seen in more than two decades, according to Space.com.
Meteor showers occur when dust or particles from asteroids or comets enter the Earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds, explained the British edition Sun.
This is expected to be the product of a comet named 73P / Schwassmann-Wachmann, also known as SW3.
SW3 was first discovered in 1930, but did not reappear until the 1970s, according to Republic World.
In 1995, astronomers noticed that the comet’s nucleus split into four smaller pieces, according to CNET.
It continued to disintegrate more in the following years.
The display is expected to be very visible in the Northern Hemisphere, as it happens on a moonless night.
A consensus of experts predicts that the shower will be visible from 1 am EST on May 31.
It is assumed that viewers will want to be outside at least an hour before, so that your eyes have a chance to adjust to the dark.
“The southwestern United States and Mexico are preferred locations because the radiant, the area of the sky where these meteors come from, will be located highest in the dark sky,” Robert Lunsford told AMS.
“The outbreak can be seen from southeastern Canada and the rest of the (eastern) United States, but at lower altitudes.
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