How to Watch the Taurid Meteor Shower Fireballs

1 minute read
A bright Taurid fireball recorded by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network station in Cartersville, Georgia, in 2013. The bright orb is the Moon.
A bright Taurid fireball recorded by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network station in Cartersville, Georgia, in 2013. The bright orb is the Moon.NASA
By Victor Luckerson

A meteor shower that produces dazzling fireballs will be viewable later this month and is predicted to produce a dazzling display.

The Taurid meteor shower, named for the constellation Taurus, are often tepid and hard to see but are expected to be extremely bright this year, CBS reports. A “Taurid swarm” is expected to form, in which small fragments of a comet will burn in the Earth’s atmosphere and create fireballs. In the past, viewers of the shower have confused brightly burning Taurids for airplanes and fireworks.

Visibility of the meteor shower is expected to peak on Nov. 12 between midnight and 3 a.m. local time. It’s possible that some of the larger meteors will survive their trip through the atmosphere and reach the ground.

[CBS News]

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