COLUMBIA, S.C. — There could be the chance of a meteor shower in the Midlands tonight. Unlike many meteor showers, the Earth will be passing into a very dense debris field from comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3) which could result in either a very bright show, or nothing. Here is why:
Comet SW3 was first spotted by astronomers in 1995 breaking up in its orbit. Since then, the comet has not produced any noticeable meteor showers but it appears that things could change as we go into tonight. In 2006 and 2009, images of the comet showed the core continuing to fall apart. The comet (now in 4 distinct pieces) might have given some of the debris enough speed to get into an orbit that could allow for a meteor storm here on Earth.
What is a meteor storm? It is exactly like a meteor shower, but instead of a few meteors visible per hour, there would be over a thousand! The last notable meteor storm was the Leonids back in 1966 so, it has been some time.
Let's talk about timing and location for viewing IF everything comes together.
The peak is predicted to be around 1AM on Tuesday morning. As for the amount of meteors that is still a very large question mark. As for the location, astronomers expect this radiant to be in the western sky.
Looking at our weather, skies should be mostly clear so whether we see anything or not that will not be a concern here across the Midlands.