You may have noticed some fireballs overhead the last few nights. It’s the annual Taurids meteor shower, seen as the Earth passes through the orbit of Comet Encke. This from SpaceWeather.com:
FIREBALL SIGHTINGS: In recent nights, sky watchers have seen some spectacular fireballs. Experts suspect it’s the Taurid meteor shower, a display caused by debris from Comet Encke.
Photo: a Taurid fireball photographed by Hiroyuki Iida of Toyama, Japan on Oct. 28th.Most years the Taurid shower is weak, producing few meteors, mostly dim. 2005 appears to be different. Earth may be passing through a “swarm” of pebbles and rocks within the larger cloud of Taurid space dust. The pebbles are responsible for the fireballs.
The 2005 Taurid meteor shower is not over. Indeed, it’s just beginning. Forecasters expect the complex shower to peak during the first two weeks of November. So keep an eye on the sky!
Read the full story from Science @ NASA.