What Actually Happened with the Tau Herculid's

Well, let us look at what happened on the peak of the Tau Herculids meteor shower. The Tau Herculid’s turned into quite an event, we reported this meteor shower may flare up back at the beginning of May. 

I would like to thank everyone for their efforts and feedback. Around the world, viewers of the AstroPioneer YouTube channel were preparing for the meteor shower. Brad set up an all-sky camera to capture the meteor shower. Digital cameras were set up and ready to go such as Gerald in New York. Observers also came from British Columbia, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, the Northeastern United States, Arizona, Alabama, California, Texas and Florida. You all know who you are, thank you all for reporting back.

Taken By Christopher Hall, Pennsylvania, USA

By this point, the media had transformed a potential meteor shower into a meteor storm.

Many reports stated that people only saw one meteor or none at the peak of the shower. However, that is not the whole picture.

There was one report from a person named elsongs in Mojave Desert who saw eleven meteors in one hour. The meteors were small with very short streaks. I captured something similar myself in the previous episode, the night before the peak.

Another interesting report comes from Mackenzie Jore in Michigan, who went to a very dark site and saw 46 meteors between 1 am and 2 am EST. Some were barely visible, but others shot across the sky and described it as an incredible experience.

Taken by Catherine Ryan Hyde, CA, USA

From these reports and others since then, I believe that a mediocre meteor shower occurred and not a meteor storm.

Then what do we make of the fact that some people see nothing and others see something? From al the reports I have received, light pollution seems to be the common denominator. Therefore, it is no surprise that those with no light or little pollution have seen more meteors, as many reports suggest that the meteors were small and therefore not so bright.

It is true that astronomy does not always go as planned a lot of the time, but it can also be a fun hobby when we are pleasantly surprised, and that helps to keep it interesting.

For more images please check out the episode on the Tau Herculid Meteor Shower, below.

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