Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
    • Smart Ways to Give
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
    • Smart Ways to Give
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Skyward by David Levy: July 2022

By David Levy  |  22 Jul 2022

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

This entry is part 94 of 98 in the series Diary

The Meteor Shower that wasn’t, but not so much

On May 30 observers all across the western hemisphere were outside, hoping to see a wonderful “new” meteor shower. The shower is actually not new. It is called the Tau Herculids, and it sends us dust particles from Comet Schwassmann-Wachman III. In 1995 this normally faint comet brightened dramatically as it split into several parts, releasing huge amounts of dust into space.

On May 30, at 10 pm Mountain Standard time, the Earth plowed through the debris released in 1995. We were hoping for a possible meteor storm of hundreds of thousands of meteors. Wendee and I sat outside at Jarnac observatory, waited, watched, and waited some more. There was one bright meteor that seemed too far from the direction my camera was pointing for its lens to detect. Ten o’clock came and went, and we counted a few shooting stars here and there. Over the course of the evening we counted 18 meteors. But a meteor storm? To use the Yiddish word that means what you think it means, we saw bupkis. Somewhat disappointed, we went indoors and completed a quiet evening.

The next day, I examined the pictures I took. I have found that it is very difficult for a camera to record all but the brightest meteors, even from the major showers. But the second picture (below) I saw captured the bright meteor I saw just south of Corvus in Hydra, and the third frame recorded a fainter one. All in all, the camera counted five meteors, only the first of which I actually saw. And one frame displayed two meteors!

Tau Herculid
A bright Tau Herculid dropping in Hydra, just south of Corvus. Credit: David Levy.

There was more. In Electronic Telegram 5125 of the International Astronomical Union, Daniel Green suggested that “a very faint glow from scattered sunlight may be visible in the sky centered … in Leo.” I had no difficulty at all seeing that glow in Leo, particularly when I used averted vision, and I also noted its absence on the following night. (I saw a similar glow during the strong Perseid meteor shower in 1992.)

Even though these meteors were generally faint, they moved so slowly that they showed up nicely on the camera. So this crazy little shower produced more meteors on camera than any other meteor shower I have witnessed. The experience proved to me that meteor showers, while poorly predictable, do offer surprises , and this one certainly did.

The best (by far) meteor shower I saw was the Leonids, from near Alice Springs, Australia, in 2001. During that night Wendee and I counted 2406 meteors. This year’s Tau Herculids might have been less than stellar, but the sky was clear, the night was beautiful, and we enjoyed being outside as planet Earth raced through the emptiness of space, picking up cosmic dust on its windshield along the way.


Editor: The parent comet of the Tau Herculids meteor shower is periodic comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 with a 5.4 year orbital period.

Orbit of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
Orbit of comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. Credit: JPL Small Body Database Browser
Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter – March 22

By Robert Trembley  |  20 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Bubbles on the Moon

19 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Active Volcanism on Venus

By Robert Trembley  |  19 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Blaise Pascal on Augustine, Aquinas, and the evidence of the Senses

By Faith and Science  |  19 Mar 2023  |  Resources

Archives

      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts in this Series:
"Diary"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Mar 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

93  |  Massive Stars and children

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  22 Jul 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

95  |  Across the Universe: Angels in the Moon

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  21 Jul 2022

96  |  God and the Big Bang with Astrophysicist Fr. Adam Hincks, SJ

By Faith and Science  |  23 Sep 2022  |  Resources

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard