Share

Get pumped! Taurid meteor shower peaks this week with visible fireballs

Fireballs are known to be produced at high rates during the Taurid meteor shower.

Advertisement

And there could be more of them than usual when the shower comes into its peak starting Wednesday and lasting through November 12. However, a few meteors from the Taurids might be spotted throughout the month.

This will be a good year for the Taurids, as there won’t be a full moon to brighten the sky and disrupt the view, Rao said.

Europe’s largest area of protected night sky, it was awarded gold tier designation by the global Dark Sky Association, making it officially the best place in England for people to go to enjoy the heavens.

As for when to look for the Taurids, there is no specific time of the night that will bring more shooting stars than another time of the night, says AccuWeather.

At night, the meteors will streak upwards from the eastern sky.

While the meteor shower offers amateur and expert meteorologists alike a chance to watch a spectacular show in the heavens above, it also marks yet another opportunity for scientists to study the celestial event. But, don’t let that discourage you. It’s when this comet debris enters Earth’s atmosphere, and vaporizes, that we see the Leonid meteor shower. Given the behavior of past Taurid swarms, increased fireball activity may be seen during the last week of October and the first two weeks of November.

Another benefit for viewing this particular event: its peak is drawn out over a 7 day period.

The North Taurids, as you would have imagined, can be visible to the north of the constellation, and the opposite is true for South Taurids.

Comet Encke is a periodic comet that completes an orbit around the sun once every 3.3 years. Every few years, the Earth passes through an especially rich portion of the debris field.

Halloween may be over, but the “Halloween fireballs” aren’t done yet.

It happens every single year, believe it or not.

Taurid swarm return: Model calculations by David Asher have indicated the possibility there may be a return of the Taurid “swarm” of larger particles this year, in October-November.

Advertisement

This results in the development of small fiery objects in the atmosphere which are also called falling stars, meteors or shooting stars, according to USA Today. Find Orion in the southern sky.

Fireballs may be visible in the sky on Halloween night