China News Agency, Nanjing, May 1 (Reporter Yang Yanci) According to the news from the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on May 1, the sky will usher in a "carnival" of stars in May.

In addition to the dazzling star show, the Aquarius η meteor shower and the Hercules τ meteor shower will push the sky party this month to a climax.

　　The parent body of the Eta Aquarius meteor shower is the famous Halley's Comet.

For this reason, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is also known as the "tears" of Halley's Comet.

From May 6, the meteor shower ushered in a great.

At that time, although Halley's Comet is 5.2 billion kilometers away, the dust flakes off from it will shine 100,000 meters above the earth.

　　Generally speaking, the active period of the eta Aquarius meteor shower lasts from April 19 to May 28 every year. This year's maximum period occurs at around 16:00 on May 6, Beijing time. The ZHR (maximum zenith flow per hour) ) is about 50.

　　Astronomers introduced that the radiant point of the meteor shower rose at around 2 am, less than 2 hours before dawn, which is the short observation window of the meteor shower.

　　This year's maximum period coincides with the sixth day of the third month of the lunar calendar. The moon will fall in the first half of the night, which has no effect on the meteor shower in the second half of the night, so it is more suitable for observation.

At the same time, the maximum duration of the eta Aquarius meteor shower lasts for a long time, and romantic meteors may be captured in the days before and after the peak.

　　On May 31, an "unpopular" and "mysterious" meteor shower, the τ Hercules meteor shower, may usher in an outbreak.

　　According to experts, the Hercules tau meteor shower comes from Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachman 3 (referred to as "Comet 73P").

Discovered in 1930, the comet is a short-period comet in the solar system.

However, shortly after its discovery, the comet "mysteriously disappeared" and did not return to astronomers' field of vision until 1979.

　　Scientific models show that at 13:00 on May 31, the earth will pass through the dust clumps ejected when Comet 73P once returned, or there will be a "meteor shower" with a flow of thousands of meteors per hour.

However, due to the "elusive" whereabouts of the comet, the International Meteor Organization is very cautious about the forecast of this meteor shower, and the ZHR value is currently listed as "unknown".

(Finish)