Earth Is Now Approaching The Same 'Meteor Swarm' That Wiped ...

Two fireballs, originating from the fall Taurid meteor shower, are seen here over Poland in 2015.
Spurný et al. 2017
Our solar system is a dangerous place, and this month Earth inches closer to one of its riskier places, the “Taurid swarm” of meteors. It’s a theorized vast cloud of debris and possibly large objects, leftover from a massive comet's disintegration, that is suspected of causing catastrophic collision events in the past. According to Western Meteor Physics Group’s data analysis, Earth is now approaching within 30,000,000 km of its center, the closest such encounter since 1975.
There is no imminent threat of bombardment by meteors for now, but astronomers want to know if it could be a problem, particularly when Earth passes directly through the meteor swarm in November 2032.
Why is Earth close to the ‘Taurid swarm’?
Earth passes relatively close to the Taurid swarm twice per year. The events produce the Beta Taurids meteor shower from June 5 to July 18, and then the North and South Taurids meteor showers in late October. These aren’t going to be dangerous events in 2019, but Earth’s closeness is critically important because our planet is predicted to pass directly through the “Taurid swarm” in November 2032. There are reasons to suggest that we need to be ready for something serious … meanwhile, the North and South Taurids in late October and early November could be worth watching for large fireballs.
What is the ‘Taurid swarm’?
The remnants of a comet. As Earth orbits the Sun, its orbital path often goes through dust and debris left by comets, with matter no bigger than a grain of sand busting into Earth's atmosphere and burning up as “shooting stars”. Mostly, they’re harmless, but the Taurid swam is an exceptionally large cloud of debris, probably from Comet 2P/Encke, that scientists think may be responsible for some once-per-1,000-years catastrophic events on Earth. The Taurid complex-giant comet hypothesis proposes that a giant comet fragmented in the inner solar system, producing dust and small Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), including 2P/Encke and other asteroids, still present today. Among the observational evidence is increased "fireball" shooting star activity when Earth gets close to the “Taurid Swarm”, and increased impacts on the Moon.
The 'Tunguska Event' of 1908.
Leonid Kulik Expedition
Why is the ‘Taurid swarm’ special?
Normally, astronomers are nervous about two things; NEOs and comets, but the Taurid swarm represents a third threat. It’s thought to have caused the famous “Tunguska Event” when on June 30, 1908, 2,000 square kilometers of Siberian forest were flattened by … something. Astronomers have since calculated that Earth was then passing through the Taurid swarm. It could also be responsible for a 1,000 year freeze from 11,000 BC and the Tagish Lake meteorite, which fell on Yukon Territory in Canada in January 2000.
Single illustration of Taurid swarm core passing below the Earth.
Western Meteor Physics Group
Astronomers’ ‘unique’ opportunity
Calculations show that now is the best time to view and study the Taurid swarm until the early 2030s, so astronomers are getting ready to do just that. “The June-August 2019 encounter of the TSC [Taurid Resonant Swarm] provides a unique opportunity to identify additional NEOs of the swarm,” write UWO astronomers David Clark, Paul Wiegert and Peter Brown in ‘The 2019 Taurid resonant swarm: prospects for ground detection of small NEOs’. “Dedicated surveys will at the very least be able to place limits on the NEO density near the swarm center.”
So in August, astronomers in the Western Meteor Physics Group will take advantage of Earth’s closeness to observe the Taurid swarm up close using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at the University of Hawaii in August. Using the results of computer simulations, the astronomers calculated two optimal viewing times and telescope pointing locations for the Taurid swarm to properly investigate its overall risk potential. They’re looking for massive objects that could cause Earth a problem in 2032.
Astronomers in the Western Meteor Physics Group will take advantage of Earth’s closeness to observe... [+] the Taurid swarm up close using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at the University of Hawaii.
Gordon W Myrers, Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
"There has been great interest in the space community since we shared our results at the recent Planetary Defense Conference in Washington, DC," says David Clark, a Western graduate student and first author of the study. "There is strong meteoric and NEO evidence supporting the Taurid swarm and its potential existential risks but this summer brings a unique opportunity to observe and quantify these objects."