Witness Spectacular Fireballs: Meteor Shower Peaks During the Southern Taurid Weekend

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Prepare to indulge your curiosity as the first branch of the Taurid meteor showers reaches its pinnacle this weekend, offering an alluring chance for avid stargazers who are willing to exercise patience.

The Southern Taurid meteors have been illuminating the night sky since late September, with the peak expected at 8:47 p.m. ET on Sunday, as advised by the American Meteor Society. Although the Southern Taurids usually only have a frequency of five meteors per hour, this shower is renowned for its abundance of fireballs. Fireballs, defined as meteors that appear brighter than Venus, are aplenty in this phenomenon, according to NASA. Venus, ranking as the second brightest celestial body in the night sky after the moon.

The "moonrise" of the satellite is captured in this image as it emerges from behind asteroid Dinkinesh. It was taken by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LLORRI), providing one of the most detailed views from NASAs Lucy spacecraft during its flyby of the asteroid binary. This particular image was captured at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 UTC) on November 1, 2023, just moments before closest approach, from a distance of approximately 270 miles (430 km). As seen from this perspective, the satellite appears behind the primary asteroid. The image has undergone sharpening and processing to enhance contrast.

NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab

Lucy mission spots second asteroid during flyby

According to Bill Cooke, head of NASAs Meteoroid Environment Office, meteors are a unique occurrence in the night sky that captivate people. Unlike the constant presence of stars, the moon, and planets, meteors are fleeting. This transience is what fascinates people.

Cooke advises that the optimal time to catch a glimpse of a meteor is after midnight in any time zone, provided that the weather conditions are favorable. However, if you are determined to see one, be prepared to spend some time outdoors. Currently, NASAs meteor cameras are only documenting roughly one or two Taurids per night.

During the highest activity of the showers, the moon will be approximately 44% illuminated, as reported by the American Meteor Society. Although this level of moonlight might disrupt the visibility of dimmer meteors, it is unlikely to affect the viewing of the Taurids due to their brightness, explained Cooke.

The Taurids exhibit distinctive characteristics. While typical meteor showers consist of meteoroids measuring only a few millimeters, the Taurids stand out with meteoroids reaching an impressive length of 1 meter (3 feet). As a result, when these meteoroids disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere, they create a strikingly luminous display.

Most of the larger space rocks do not reach Earth, but if they do, they break down into smaller meteoroids called meteorites. These meteorites are not big enough to cause any harm, according to Cooke. The Southern Taurids come from Comet Encke, which has the shortest orbit among all known comets in the solar system. NASA states that Encke has an orbital period of approximately 3.3 years. The comet was last seen from Earth on October 22, when it was at its closest point to the sun, known as perihelion.

The remnants of the Moon-forming impactor, known as planet Theia, have persisted in Earth's deep mantle for its entire history. During the formation of terrestrial planets, large collisions between early Solar System planets occurred. The creation of Earth's Moon is often cited as the most prominent example of such an impact, although no direct evidence has been discovered so far. This week, Qian Yuan and his colleagues provide compelling evidence that two significant basal mantle structures, detected seismically, may be fragments of Theia's mantle. By utilizing advanced simulations of giant impacts, models of mantle convection, calculations based on mineral physics, and seismic imaging, it is suggested that after the impact, the lower portion of Earth's mantle largely retained its solid state while portions of Theia's mantle sank and accumulated on top of Earth's core approximately 4.5 billion years ago. These remnants have persisted throughout Earth's history.

Hernán Cañellas

Collision that formed the moon also created alien blobs inside Earth, study finds

As it travels, the comet leaves a trail of debris that forms the Southern Taurid meteor shower when Earth's orbit intersects with it. However, this year, it is anticipated that the shower will have a low number of meteors despite the comet being relatively close.

Both Taurid meteor showers experienced higher than normal rates in 2022 due to the Taurid swarm phenomenon, where Jupiter's gravitational pull concentrated the debris in front of Earth's trajectory. According to Cooke, scientists forecast that the next swarm event will happen in 2025.

The Southern Taurids meteor shower is projected to continue displaying stunning meteors in the sky until its finale on December 8, as stated by the American Meteor Society. Currently, the meteor shower coincides with the Northern Taurids, which have been active since mid-October and will reach their peak next week, specifically on Sunday, November 12.

Upcoming meteor shower peaks in 2023.

If you're excited about witnessing the Taurids reach their peak activity, there are several other meteor showers that will also reach their peak this year. Here are the meteor events that are yet to come and will peak in 2023:

- Leonids: November 17-18.

● Geminids: December 13-14

● Ursids: December 21-22

Full moons

There are two full moons remaining in 2023, according to the Farmers Almanac:

● November 27: Beaver moon

● December 26: Cold moon