Nov 05 2008

Orange Fireballs Tonight

Unlike the green fireball which I witnessed by chance on June 15th, this year’s Taurid meteor shower offers a chance for everyone to see a similar display on a relatively predictable schedule.

From Space.com:

Meteors – popularly referred to as “shooting stars” – are generated when debris enters and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere. In the case of the Taurids, they are attributed to debris left behind by Encke’s Comet, or perhaps by a much larger comet that upon disintegrating, left Encke and a lot of other rubble in its wake.

Indeed, the Taurid debris stream contains noticeably larger fragments than those shed by other comets, which is why in certain years – and 2008 is predicted to be one – this rather elderly meteor stream occasionally delivers a few unusually bright meteors known as “fireballs.”

The fragments forming “fireballs” from this storm are relatively slow-moving and will glow orange. For more info on fireball colors, bolides, etc. check out the American Meteor Society’s FAQ.

The Taurids are best viewed after 11PM, after the moon sets. I’ll be out there looking and would like to hear from readers if you see anything as well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Astronomy/Space, Breaking News, Wake Up Down There. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.
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