Two annual meteor streams are now active and have the potential to generate spectacular fireballs in the weeks leading up to their November peak.
As their names suggest, the Southern Taurid and Northern Taurid meteors meteor showers appear to emanate from a point of origin in the constellation Bullwhich can be found rising in the eastern sky in the hours before midnight throughout the month of October. They also share a common relative in the form of the stray cat comet 2P/Encke, which throws debris in a vast loop as it completes its 3.3-year orbit around the sun. When Earth passes through this debris, particles of dust and other matter heat up due to the friction of our planet’s atmosphere and create the fiery spectacles we see in the sky.
The Northern Taurids become active on October 20 and are expected to crescendo on the night of November 11-12, while the Southern Taurids have been in play since September 20 and are expected to peak on the night of November 4-5.
Stargazers could see up to 5 meteors per hour during each peak activity period under ideal dark sky conditions, although light from a full moon will likely blot out the darker meteors during the southern Taurid peak. What makes Taurid Meteor Stream What’s really exciting is their potential to occasionally give rise to magnificent fireballs capable of briefly turning night into day as they ignite in the sky after sunset.
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The southern and northern Taurides arise from the same cloud of widely dispersed debris. Periods when both are active are known to correspond to a significant increase in fireball activity, according to the American Meteor Society.
A fireball is the name given to a particularly bright meteor that dwarfs even the planet. Venus in the night sky. They often leave pronounced trails in their wake and are created when an object ranging in size from a few centimeters to several feet collides with our atmosphere.
Want to photograph the night sky? Then check out our summaries of best cameras And lenses for astrophotographywith our guide to imaging fast-moving meteors and fireballs.
Editor’s note: If you take an image of a fireball and would like to share it with Space.com readers, please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.