Two annual meteor streams are now active that have the potential to spawn dramatic fireballs in the weeks leading up to their November peaks.
As their names suggest, meteors from both the Southern Taurid and Northern Taurid meteor showers appear to emanate from a point of origin in the constellation Taurus, which can be found rising in the eastern sky in the hours preceding midnight throughout October. They also share a common parent in the form of the wandering comet 2P/Encke, which sheds debris in a vast loop as it traverses its 3.3-year orbit around the sun. When Earth travels through this debris, particles of dust and other matter heat up due to the friction of our planet's atmosphere and create the fiery spectacles we see in the sky.
