Near-Earth Comet Could Trigger Lambda-Sculptorids Meteor Shower

Meteor showers are expected this week. According to experts, a near-Earth comet could trigger a new meteor shower.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen Could Trigger Lambda-Sculptorids Meteor Shower.

On Tuesday (Dec. 12), debris from the near-Earth Comet 46P/Wirtanen may penetrate Earth's atmosphere and cause the Lambda-Sculptorid meteor shower, a new meteor shower.

The star Lambda-Sculptoris is the direction these meteors appear to stream, so this meteor shower may also be known as the "Lambda-Sculptorids."

Comet 46P/Wirtanen, discovered in 1948 and rounds the sun every 5.4 years, is the progenitor of the prospective new meteor shower. This contrasts previous comets, such as Halley's Comet, which takes approximately 75 years to orbit our star.

"The results show a possible encounter forecast for Dec. 12, 2023, between 8:00 and 12:30 UT [0300 and 0730 EST]. The activity level of the shower is highly uncertain due to the absence of reported past showers," the researchers wrote. "Overall, the most optimal observations on the forecasted day would be achieved from Eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania."

During Earth's 365.3-day orbit around the sun, debris from this source may also form streams that the planet travels through at around the same time each year. At that point, debris bits can reach speeds of up to 162,000 miles per hour (260,713 kph), which is around 100 times faster than the maximum speed of a Lockheed Martin F-16 jet fighter. These particles burn up high over Earth as they do so, producing steaks of light and larger fragments the size of pebbles that explode as brilliant fireballs. This velocity is contingent upon several factors, one of which is the angle at which the fragments penetrate the Earth's atmosphere.

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What Is Lambda-Sculptorids Meteor Shower?

The Lambda-Sculptorids is a stellar shower expected to happen in December 2023. It is anticipated to originate from Comet 46P/Wirtanen's debris.

A group led by astronomer Jeremie Vaubaillon at the Observatoire de Paris made the prediction using computational models. The researchers computed Comet 46P/Wirtanen's material release utilizing a range of models to determine why this would be.

They then computed the behavior of these particles following ejection and, consequently, the kind of debris stream that would result from this. The scientists concluded that although a meteoroid stream connected to this comet ought to have collided with Earth multiple times in the past, meteor showers might not have materialized due to the debris's slow entry into Earth's atmosphere.

The Lambda-Sculptorid meteor shower is expected to peak on Dec. 12, 2023, between 0300 and 0730 EST.

On Dec. 13 and 14 evenings, the well-known Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak at roughly the same time.

It is anticipated that the meteors will emanate from the Lambda Sculptor constellation.

Meteor showers are named after celestial objects that appear to be the source of the strongest meteor bombardment. As a result, the comet Swift-Tuttle, which seems to stream toward Earth from the constellation Perseus, is the source of the Perseid meteor shower.