Fireballs are falling to Earth this week – here’s how to watch them

[tosh]

http://www.sciencealert.com/fireballs-are-falling-to-earth-this-week-here-s-how-to-watch-them

Right now, Earth is passing through Comet Encke’s tail, generating the Taurid meteor shower in the process.

<snip>

First is that when the meteor shower peaks on the evening of Wednesday November 11, the moon will be new.

So, there will be no moonlight to outshine the meteors, and observers will have an especially dark night sky to enjoy the show. NASA estimates that during peak hours viewers can see between 7 to 10 meteors an hour.

While those numbers don’t stack up to the 100 meteors an hour you can sometimes see during the Perseid meteor shower in August, it’s still worth watching since some of these meteors are likely to be brilliant fireballs.


Photo Credit: Channone Arif on Flickr

[Mnemosyne]

1. Almost forgot these, tosh, thanks! nt

[Cassiopeia]

2. I've caught 1 or 2 every night

for the last 5 days.

Saw a really good fireball yesterday.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Thank you. Beautiful photo. n/t

[murielm99]

4. I saw some last night.

It is stormy tonight. I won't be able to see anything.

[tosh]

5. Tonight is the first CLEAR night here...

in more than 2 weeks.

Now, if I can only stay awake...

[Ino]

6. I saw one!

Nov. 6, in Los Angeles, big & green

awesome!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. Saw some good ones last night from the back yard despite the light pollution.