Don’t Be Intimidated by the Fireballs in the Sky This Week
Depending on where you live, you might have seen the sky lit up with fireworks over the weekend. But this week we have a different type of light show (non-political): the North Taurid meteor shower. Although it technically started in October, the rain will peak this week, namely tomorrow and Thursday (November 11 and 12), and there will likely be balls of fire visible in the sky. Here’s how to recognize them.
When is the North Taurids meteor shower?
Although the North Taurids meteor shower has been going on since October, it will be most noticeable on November 11 and 12, so set your phone reminders now. The view will be the best this week because Earth will pass through the densest part of the cometary debris stream, Bill Cook, Jr., head of NASA’s Meteoroids Environment Office, told CNN .
What about fireballs?
The image of the fireballs in the sky sounds a little intimidating – although not out of place in 2020 – but the ones we see this week are far away, safe to view and won’t hurt anyone, Cook told CNN. We can expect to see about five fireballs and an hour on November 11 and 12 (Younger – I would do that in a drinking game where you took a fireball shot of cinnamon liqueur and danced withJerry Lee Lewis and thePitbull song whenever you spotted one in heaven, although this is probably not the best way to describe this astrological phenomenon.)
So how do you know if you’ve seen a fireball? Fireballs are very bright meteors – brighter than Venus (which is the brightest object in the sky after the Moon) – and usually last one or two seconds. Ordinary meteors, on the other hand, disappear in about half a second, Robert Lunsford, the American Meteor Society’s resident fireball reporting coordinator, told CNN .
How to look at meteors and fireballs
To maximize your chances of seeing a nature light show this week, travel to an area with limited light pollution. The meteor shower will be most noticeable between midnight and just before dawn (your local time). During showers, the moon will only shine about 15%, so it could be worse. The North Taurids meteor shower lasts until December 10, followed by the Geminid meteor shower , which peaks in mid-December.