Taurids 2012 Meteor Shower May Bring Fireballs

If, by chance, the National Weather Service’s forecast is wrong, step outside tonight and prepare for a show.

The Taurids meteor shower is set to continue tonight, and viewers can expect 7 to 15 meteors per hour, depending on who you ask. And some have the potential to reach “fireball” proportions. 

Like all meteor showers, Taurids is named after the constellation that the meteors appear to radiate from; in this case, Taurus, the Bull.

Taurus is easy to spot, particularly right now. Depending on what you can recognize in the sky, use Jupiter, the Pleiades; Orion or Taurus itself as your guide.

And if NWS is right, there’s nothing visible in the sky but rain and clouds tonight, you might be able to use your ears to find the biggest meteors. 

Some of the meteors in this shower are expected to be big and bright enough to be categorized as fireballs -- meteors that shine brighter than Venus, according to Case Western University’s astronomy department.

In some cases – what’s known as a bolide – the meteor can produce a sonic boom, the sound of the space brought down to Earth.

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