Taurid Fireballs: Look Up This Weekend In St. Louis To See Them

ST. LOUIS, MO — In some respects, the South and North Taurids are the red-headed stepchild of meteor showers. They don’t produce a lot of meteors — maybe a handful an hour — but they are known for a high percentage of dramatic fireballs. They’re flying right now over St. Louis. They reach their peak peak this weekend, November 4 to 5, but should be visible through the end of month.

There’s no moon to interfere, but the rainy weather won’t be ideal. The forecast calls for showers most of the day Sunday, but clouds could clear a bit overnight.

As Comet Encke orbits the sun, it leaves behind a trail of debris in its wake. In some years — 2015, for example — they produce dramatic outbursts, but this isn’t one of those years. The outbursts occur when Jupiter orbits close to the comet stream and its gravity pushes the debris toward Earth.

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Meteor watchers may see an outburst in 2019, NASA’s meteorite expert, Bill Cooke, told Space.com.

To see the most meteors, be patient. Your best chances to see fireballs occurs in the hours between midnight and dawn. The radiant point, Taurus the Bull, will be well above the horizon. It’s not far from the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters.

“You don’t need to identify this constellation to see the meteors,” Earthsky.org said. “They will appear all over the sky.”

The Taurid meteor shower is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The South Taurids, which have already peaked, are produced by Asteroid 2004 TG10.

You may also start seeing meteors associated with the Leonid meteor shower, which runs November 6 to 30. It’s a little more prolific than the Taurids, which produces about 15 meteors an hour at its peak, which occurs around November 17 or 18. This shower has a cyclonic peak every 33 years where hundreds of shooting stars can be seen. The last time that happened was in 2001.

What makes the Leonids spectacular is their swift movement across the sky — about 44 miles per second — and that increases the chances of fireballs.

Also coming up are the spectacular Geminids, which originate from the constellation Gemini. Typically one of the best meteor showers of the year, it produces up to 120 multicolored meteors at its peak, which is December 13 to 17. The shower runs from December 7 to 17, and viewing conditions should be excellent this year because the first quarter moon will set shortly after midnight, leaving dark skies in peak viewing hours.

If you're looking for a good place to watch any of the upcoming meteor showers, you may want to check out Brommelsiek Park in Wentzville. The park has a dedicated space for stargazing and is far enough away from big city lights that light pollution shouldn't be too much of an issue. The Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri hosts public viewings every Friday if you're having trouble telling Ursa Major from The Big Dipper (yeah, that's a trick question). You can find more information here.

The St. Louis Astronomical Society also hosts Wednesday night stargazing sessions at Francis Park in St. Louis Hills. "This event is scheduled near the First Quarter Moon each month, so we provide views of craters, mountains, and shadows on the Lunar surface," the group writes. "Members of the St. Louis Astronomical Society also share telescope views of illusive Mercury, bright Venus, the Red Planet Mars, giant Jupiter, the ringed planet Saturn, and distant Uranus and Neptune when they are visible. You may even be able to see the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, or a distant double star."

Photo By NASA via Getty Images