Article by:
Frank McGwire
Taurid Meteor Shower Concludes Early Morning Friday, Nov. 11th
Due to the recent cloudy weather, stargazers may have been deprived of the Total Eclipse of the Beaver Moon Monday night. But we still have something to look forward to this week. We may see a major uptick in the number of Fireballs from the Taurid Meteor Swarm streaking across our night skies.
Every year, from September to November, Earth is pelted with ice and dust from a pair of wide, overlapping debris streams in space. As a result, twin meteor showers light up our night skies, originating from the constellation Taurus. (source: NASA)
As a result, we could see an unusually high number of fireball meteors. The best time to watch is in hours around midnight when the constellation Taurus is high in the sky. This nightly celestial event will conclude overnight Thursday, November 10th - 11th.
To see fireballs from the Taurid swarm, you're best to be positioned in sparsely populated areas away from city lights. However, you can watch from pretty much anywhere. You really only need three things: reasonably clear weather, a good view of the night sky, and patience.
Astronomers say this particular swarm may produce as many as 100 million meteors but even in the best-case scenario for a Taurid swarm appearance, we won't be seeing hundreds of fireballs throughout the night. There's a better chance of a few decent-sized fireballs per hour. However, that's still far more than we usually see at this time of year! So, if you're out and about at night over the next few weeks, don't be surprised if you spot a few exceptionally bright meteors streaking across the sky!
There are two known large objects in the Taurid streams — asteroid 2004 TG10 and comet 1P/Encke (the sources of the Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers, respectively). Neither of these is considered to be a threat to us. (Source: Weather Network)
If you don't have a telescope you can still view this celestial event via the YouTube link shared below.
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