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The northern Taurus meteor shower reaches its maximum activity this evening, just three days before an asteroid nearly 800 feet wide passes the earth.
The meteor shower reaches its peak during the night between November 11 and 12, though according to the American Meteor Society it will remain active until December 10.
During this night the waning lunar crescent will only be 15% full, so observing conditions with relatively low moonlight should be favorable, depending on the weather you are experiencing.
The Northern Taurid Rain is superimposed on its twin rain, the Southern Taurid Rain, which is active between 10 September and 20 November. Both are known to produce a relatively high percentage of fireballs – essentially very bright meteorites – when they coincide at this time of year.
In both showers, fireball activity appears to be remarkably high every seven years. The last extremely active year for fireballs was 2015, but the number that occurs each year is not predictable.
Northern taurid rain tends not to produce a very strong spike, so you probably won’t be able to see more than five meteors per hour, although some southern taurid meteors may be visible, EarthSky reported.
The best time to observe the Northern Taurid rain is around midnight. During this period the point from which the meteors appear to originate – the so-called radiant – will be high in the sky, far above the horizon.
The Northern Bullstorm radiant is located in the constellation of Taurus, near the Pleiades cluster. However, it is not necessary to look in this region to see the meteors, as they will spread to all parts of the sky.
The best visibility conditions are obtained when you move to an area away from light pollution and where you have a clear view of the sky. You don’t need special equipment to see meteors, but it may be worth bringing a beach chair as it may take some time before you discover a meteorite.
The climax of the North Staurid shower comes just days before a large space rock called the 2020 ST1 is expected to fly past the earth.
The asteroid will approach November 14 at 3:45 am ET – at that time it will be just over 4.5 million miles from Earth and traveling at about 18,000 miles per hour, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies of the Earth. NASA.
The diameter of the object is estimated to be up to 787 feet, which is slightly higher than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Fortunately, astronomers know the orbit of this asteroid well, so there is no chance it will hit Earth in the near future. But if a space rock of this size were to collide with our planet, it could cause widespread chaos….
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