Asteroids that could wipe out an entire CONTINENT are hidden by the Taurids meteor shower, astronomers claim

European academics say Taurids are a ‘very real source of potentially hazardous’ space rocks

THE annual Taurids meteor shower is one of the highlights of the stargazing calendar.

But the comet that causes this natural wonder could be hiding gigantic asteroids which are large enough to wipe out entire continents.

It’s feared an undetected asteroid could sneak up on Earth – with devastating consequences

The meteor shower will peak at the beginning of November — A view of the Taurids meteor shower, which will peak at the beginning of November

That’s the warning from a team of academics at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Science, who have been keeping a close eye on the Taurids.

Each year in late October and November, Earth’s skies light up with shooting stars when the Earth passes through debris called the Taurids, left behind by comet Encke.

However, the Czech astronomers claimed that asteroids called 2015 TX24 and 2005 UR are “direct members” of an undiscovered “branch” of the Taurids.

A Taurid meteor fireball dazzles in the sky — A Taurid meteor fireball streaks across the sky

Both of these space rocks have been placed on the International Astronomical Union’s list of “potentially hazardous” asteroids and are believed to be between 200 and 300 metres wide.

The Czech astronomers fear even larger space rocks could be hidden among the Taurids.

We encounter the potentially dangerous branch every few years, the researchers claimed, which could explain why the number of shooting stars seen during the meteor shower is much larger on some years than others.

“It is very likely that the new branch contains also numerous still not discovered objects of decameter [10 metres] or even larger size,” the team wrote.

“Since asteroids of sizes of tens to hundreds of metres pose a threat to the ground even if they are intrinsically weak, impact hazard increases significantly when the Earth encounters the Taurid new branch every few years.

The Taurids get their name from the Taurus constellation, pictured — The Taurids get their name from the Taurus constellation (pictured)

“Further studies leading to better description of this real source of potentially hazardous objects, which can be large enough to cause significant regional or even continental damage are therefore
extremely important.”

The research is contained in a paper called “Discovery of a new branch of the Taurid meteoroid stream as a real source of potentially hazardous bodies” which has been published on Arxiv.

Nasa recently spotted five asteroids set to make an ominously ‘close approach’ to Earth this year – with the first due to zoom by in July.

It’s been claimed the mysterious “Tunguska Event” in Russia was caused by a meteor from The Taurids, but Russian scientists recently challenged this claim.

The event coincided with a large streaking fireball crossing the Siberian sky on June 20, 1908, and its eruption some six miles above ground flattened 80 million trees and left charred reindeer carcasses scattered across a large area.

Source: Sun News