Skywatchers will have a chance to see one of the best meteor showers of the year. The Taurid meteor shower will be visible throughout the coming week, with a possibility of bright meteors being visible as well. Here’s what you need to know so you don’t miss out.
Each year, a broad field of debris left behind by the comet Encke passes by the Earth, with some of that debris interacting with our atmosphere. This creates what we have come to know as the Taurid meteor shower. This annual event is often one of the fall’s best skywatching moments, alongside the upcoming November Blood Moon.
But the Taurids this year could turn out to be especially bright. However, they’ll also peak around the same time as November’s full moon, which could make them harder to see. Unlike other showers, the Taurid meteor shower is one of the longest-running of the year. With meteors visible throughout late October and well into November.
Of course, you’ll have a chance to see the shower from November 5 through November 12, when the Taurids are their most active. During this peak phase, around five to 15 meteors may be visible per hour in clear, dark skies.
But that might be difficult with the full Blood Moon expected to peak on November 8, but some skywatchers will no doubt be able to catch a good look at the streaking fireballs of the Taurid meteor shower as they hit the Earth’s atmosphere.
Back in 2019, a massive fireball from the meteor shower streaked across the sky in St. Louis, giving skywatchers a delightful, and somewhat terrifying view of the Taurid meteor shower. Since scientists have discovered extraterrestrial water in a meteor, meteor showers like this may even bring hope for scientists looking to learn more about our universe.
There’s obviously no guarantee that the Taurid meteor shower will produce such extreme meteors, but it is always a possibility if any of the fireballs manage to make it down to the surface of the Earth.
