stargazer are set to find a two-fold - whammy of meteor showers in November as Earth makes its yearly handing over through a stream of dust left by a comet .
The South Taurid shooting star cascade is set to peak on November 5 , while the North Taurids are due to peak on November 12 , according to theAmerican Meteor Society .
These two dates are when the meteor cascade are at their height of activity , although they ’ll be around for much longer than a single night . The South Taurids run from around September 23 to November 12 and the North Taurids are participating from about October 13 to December 2 .
The Taurids are not a especially “ busy ” shooting star cascade , merely producing around five visible meteors per hour under idealistic viewing conditions . However , what they lack in frequency , they make up for in brightness and ringing .
" Fireballs are meteors that are as vivid or bright than the planet Venus [ … ] They may present turgid explosions of Light Within and color and can persist longer than an mean meteoroid bar . This is due to the fact that powerhouse uprise from larger particles of cometary material , " according toNASA .
The Taurids are an one-year meteor cascade that peaks around this time , hence their nickname “ Halloween Fireballs . ” They really two freestanding shower , with a southerly and a northerly portion , both originating from Comet Encke . The streaks of visible light you will ( hopefully ) see in the sky are the result of lilliputian specks of debris from this shooting star crash into Earth ’s air .
Some scientist have antecedently think over whether the comet ’s current might be hide gravid rocks , possibly up to 100 kilometer ( 62 international nautical mile ) wide . If junk collided with Earth , it would be a huge problem .
Fortunately , a study this twelvemonth investigated the upshot and found there werefewer adult infinite rocks in the comet ’s tailthan previously feared . The researchers added that they will be restrain a closer eye on future Taurid showers to “ further complicate our results . ”
“ Our finding suggest that the risk of being hit by a expectant asteroid in the Taurid swarm is much down than we believed , which is great news program for planetary defence , ” Quanzhi Ye , an assistant enquiry scientist at the University of Maryland ’s Department of Astronomy who supervised the projection , said in astatement .
Humans have been infatuate with the Taurids for thousands upon thou of year . Another study published this year suggests that the meteor shower isdepicted on a stone mainstay at Göbekli Tepe , a 12,000 - year - old temple coordination compound in Upper Mesopotamia , present - day Turkey .
