Tau Herculids meteor shower lights up the night sky

Tau Herculids meteor shower lights up the night sky

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Did you see it?

People across the nation could see a dazzling display in the sky overnight, thanks to a broken comet passing earth.

The debris trails are of a broken comet called SW3. The comet became fragmented in 1995.

"The debris from SW3 will strike Earth's atmosphere very slowly, traveling at just 10 miles per second, which means much fainter meteors than those belonging to the eta Aquariids," Bill Cooke said before the meteor shower occurred. Cooke is the leader of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "But North American stargazers are taking particular note this year because the tau Herculid radiant will be high in the night sky at the forecast peak time."

One of KDKA's cameras, set up in North Park, captured some of the stunning light display.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.