Friday, November 4th - Spectacular Fireballs Reported Over Drake, Estes Park... Reports have been coming in from Drake and Estes Park of spectacular fireballs being seen in the sky over the past few days. This morning at 4:35am, a large fireball was seen in the southern sky by our news staff, from our office window on Storm Mountain. These fireballs are actually meteors and may be part of the, "Taurid Meteor Shower", which is currently in progress. Every year around this time, Earth passes through a river of space dust associated with "Comet Encke". The encounter usually produces a dim meteor shower emanating from the constellation Taurus--hence "the Taurids". The recent fireballs may be a result of passing through an area of lager debris fragments. It has been indicated that increased Taurid fireball rates may result from a "swarm" of larger particles within the Taurid stream complex, and is suggested such "swarm" returns might happen in 1995 and 1998 most recently. In 1995, an impressive crop of bright Taurids occurred between late October to mid November, while in 1998, Taurid hourly rates reached levels comparable to the usual maximum rates in late October, together with an increased flux of brighter Taurids generally. This year brings the next potential October-November "swarm" return. Thus, observing what happens with the Taurids between last quarter Moon in October through to the Northern Taurid maximum in November is most important, especially as early November's new Moon makes almost the whole of this spell very favorable. This shower is expected to continue for the next two weeks. The best time for catching a glimpse of one of the Taurids is just after sunset and just before dawn. During these times some meteors become what are known as "Earthgrazers". They are usually close to the horizon and often are very impressive. |
|
|
|