Taurids - Halloween Fireballs
October is always an exciting time of year for meteor shower gazing because it is the start of what I consider the best few months of meteor showers. I would like to introduce the last of October’s meteor showers, the Halloween Fireballs. The Halloween Fireballs are the result of the Southern and Northern Taurids meteor shower which began September 25th. The Taurids are notorious for producing slow moving orange fireballs. These meteor showers are the dust particles that follow the Comet Encke. You will be able to see a few meteors from this shower in the morning of Hallowen, but the best viewing date for the Southern Taurids will be November 5th and for the Northern Taurids November 12th. As you know, orange is a color associated with Halloween and the Taurids are commonly seen lumbering across the sky in pale ginger and orange colors, hence giving them their name. Even though the Southern and Northern Taurids peak in November they won’t be producing huge outbursts or activity, the real activity will be reserved for the Leonids.
The Southern Taurids, Northern Taurids, Leonids, and the α-Monocerotids are all active Meteor Showers in November. I will be posting a lot more information about the Leonids. The Leonids are scheduled to peak the middle of November so please bookmark the site or join the mailing list and I will inform you about the next post regarding November’s best meteor shower, the Leonids.
I make no guarantees that you will see any Halloween Fireballs but hopefully a spooky meteor will creep across your line of sight. Don’t be afraid of the dark and keep your head up.
on Oct 29th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Nerte,
That’s awesome, thank you. For those of you who don’t know about RSS Feeds, they allow for you to be almost instantly updated of when I make a new post. You can use them on almost any website on the net. To subscribe to my RSS feed, check out the upper right hand corner and look for this button.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 1st, 2009 at 10:11 am
Thanks for this awoke info me and my friends saw 4 metiors at halloween night at 9:00 pm sp we thought thatvwe went crazy untill we searched this and we found your website so thank you for this information
on Nov 1st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I saw a spectacular fireball last night (Halloween night 2009) over San Antonio immediately after sunset. The shooting star was very bright, especially since parts of the sky still had a dusk glow to them. The bolide flared a bright green before fading from view.
on Nov 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I just saw a very nice meteor when I was coming from work at approx. 7:37 P.M. around Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). Considering that there was a bright monlight and that I was driving on a well lit perimeter highway, it was a good sight (surprisingly bright) in the south eastern part of the sky. I could see it glow for a slight moment of time, then it was followed by a good trail of smoke. It was anice treat that I did not get for a long time, meteorically speaking…
on Nov 1st, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Maria,
Thanks for the comment: “meteorically” neat word!
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 am
I saw a meteor Last night November 1st 2009 around 9 pm over jacksonville fl… anyone else see it?
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 2:00 am
San Antonio — We were setting out to trick or treat and I saw the fireball slowly coast across the sky. I showed it to my wife and she said it was just fireworks…I replied with, “don’t fireworks make noise?” It’s etched in my mind, I knew it was a meteor, I saw it too Edgar…It was briliant!
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 am
North Carolina – I saw one last night, around 9 pm, even though the moon was quite bright. it was just as you describe, thanks!
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Viewing tips for northern europe please?
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Dee,
Did you look at the page Meteor Shower Viewing Tips? The constellation Taurus is near Orion which I believe would be in your eastern sky. Don’t expect much action from the Taurids.
Please let me know if you have any other specific questions.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
I saw a very bright, slow meteor Halloween, we also thought at first it was fireworks! Just saw another one tonight in Midland, Texas.
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Lena,
That’s two more than I’ve seen! Awesome. Stay tuned hundreds are coming later in the month.
Meteor Mark
on Nov 4th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I live in Missouri, and was looking out my window at about 12:00 – 12:30 a.m. this morning (November 4 2009), and saw a beautiful meteor! I had no idea what it was until I had joined a blog asking about it. It was much brighter than a regular falling star, and lasted much longer. The thing that really struck me, is that it had a definate green color to it just before it finally died out. It was beautiful. I was told it could be from the Taurid Meteor Shower. I don’t know at all if it was or not, but, it was beautiful!
on Nov 4th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Thanks! Was after the radiant, on cellphone so hard to Google
Love the site, keep it up!
on Nov 4th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I just saw one here in Nova Scotia, was walking home and it was moving slow enough to catch my eye and still give me time to watch for a second, gigantic orange ball; then when I kept walking the whole sky lit up for just a second where I was at– coolest thing I’ve ever seen!
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Did anyone report a meteor or fireball around 8:30 Friday night Nov 6 2009? While looking east from Surf City NC, I saw a strange bluish light moving vertically “downward.” It appeared to have the width of a half moon and it appeared to flutter or oscillate side to side as it moved. I thought it might have been a relatively close (half a mile?) falling deflated weather balloon illuminated for some reason from below (why I don’t know) but my sister-in-law saw the same event from about 50 miles inland. It was visible for maybe 0.5 to 1.5 seconds, about the same time as a meteor.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Nov 7 about 5:15 in California I am driving facing southwest and a very bright fireball, looked like a sparkler, streaked across the sky in a downward direction. It had a smooth tail but the ball was very active. Lasted about 2-3 seconds. Our day was windy here and the sky is extremely clear. In the sunset, after it expired, I could see a faint streak like a jet vapor trail. Traffic in front of me, (Hiway 237,
travelling west) slowed down. It was very noticeable.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Scott,
The “faint streak like a jet vapor trail” is called a persistent train. Awesome description, thanks for letting me know!
All meteor gazers can read more definitions about meteors in the upper right hand corner, the Glossary and Meteor Shower Viewing Pages are your additional tools to learn.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Nov. 7th around 5:15 pm – i was a passenger in a car heading southbound on 280 when I saw an enormous meteor streaking down the sky. It left a huge train that was still visible 20 minutes ago. I saw sparks flying from it … I have only witnessed something like that in a movie. It was absolutely amazing!!!
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Ann,
Looks like Scott may have seen it too.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Nov 7th just after 5PM – I was heading west in Redwood City on Seaport Blvd, merging with 280 and saw the same huge meteor arcing down behind the coastal mountains. There were flames actually coming from it, and the trail was still visible for a long time after. I have seen meteor showers at night many times, but this was much bigger than anything I have ever seen. Truly amazing to watch.
Kate
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Nov 7th at 5:15pm aprox.
We live at 2300 feet, and saw this big white fire ball followed by a vapor trail heading straight for the setting sun.
How close could it have been?
We see shooting stars at night, but this was truly awesome!
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Nov. 7th around 5:10, I was the passenger in a car traveling northbound on the 101 near Los Alamos when I saw a large yellow fire ball with a trail traveling in the same direction west of us. It was such a quick but awesome sight! I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Karin,
There have been a lot of posts about this event. To the best of my knowledge and I’m still researching it, this fireball could have burned up in the atmosphere as high as 60 miles or hit Earth as a meteorite. Keep in mind last year around this time a truck size meteoroid entered Earth’s atmosphere and was reduced to nothing more than apple sized meteorites. I’m not sure of the size of this object yet, but I know how close they appear sometimes. Thanks for the post. Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 12:17 am
Nov. 7 – (My birthday). A friend and I saw the “huge white sparkler’ fireball just after sunset heading southwest from Clear Lake, California. My sister saw the same fireball in Big Sur from Bixby Bridge.
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Any more word on the Nov 7th it was very large and it looked like it came down around the Livermore Pleasanton area?
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
On saturday November 7 i saw the same meteor as the others reported from western california (SF bay area). just after sunset, looking due west, big white fireball with trails of sparkles, like a fireworks streamer. my question is, just how large did that particular meteor have to be to be seen so clearly from a radius of several hundred miles? it was phenomenal! must have landed somewhere in the ocean but i bet it made a splash….. i actually thought it was a flare fired from maybe 10 miles away, it was so bright. very very cool. the first time in 58 years i have ever seen one so big.
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Laurie,
Thanks for your comment. A fireball that appears this large in the sky could be the size of a basketball to the size of a small truck. I wish I would have seen it myself and can only assume that it was probably closer to the size of a truck.
Check out this video: Fireball
Keep your head up because the Leonids are coming and peak November 17th.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I was visiting Santa Cruz, and we were watching the sunset at the beach, when we too saw the fireball on Nov 7th around 5:10 pm. At first we thought it was a firework that didn’t go off right. It was huge, and the smoky trail lasted for at least 20 minutes after it burned out. My boyfriend thought it was a rocket of some sort. From our location, it looked light it burned up over the ocean and seemed pretty close. I have never seen anything like it…it was so big and bright, like how phosphorus burns…I also thought I saw a tinge of turquoise in one spot. I’m glad to find out what it was…thanks for the info!
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I saw a meteor-type thing on nov. 7th, 2009 at approximately 10:30 pm in Tulsa OK.
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Shayna,
Like a streak of light type thing? like wow! Thanks for your comment.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Concord, California…also saw the fireball Nov 7th alittle after 5…it was very cool!
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
In Saratoga, CA, just leaving the soccer fields which are next to Hwy 85, looked south (or our eyes were drawn south) by this amazing blaze. Very bright considering the late evening glow still in that general direction. You could indeed see the trail for some time afterwards. The 9-10 year old kids that saw it were very excited. It almost looked like a plane crash that was burning as plummeting. To us, it looked like it landed in the Santa Cruz Mtns. I have seen a few slow, bright meteors before, but this was the biggest yet. Thanks for confirming what we saw!
on Nov 12th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
we’ve been getting good shows in eastcentral indiana since halloween, some red with tails, one long tail and squiggly like a giant space sperm… we will watch more tonight the 12th/13th after midnight…november…
on Nov 13th, 2009 at 12:37 am
J.P. and Cyndi,
Phrase of the year on MeteorBlog.com: Giant Space Sperm
Funny thing is this could be closer to reality than you think, it’s a commonly known theory that comets, asteroids, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites are responsible for bringing water to Earth; therefore being reponsible for the beginning seeds of life.
Keep your head up,
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 14th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Glad I found these postings; I have been wondering what I saw??? I too enjoyed the sightings of the Nov. 7th meteor around 5:15 pm. Driving from Stockton to Santa Clara on the 280, the enormously bright, burning object caused me to slow down and pull to the right (fortunately no one near me). I was transfixed by the large, glowing object. It seemed to be shiny (maybe metalish?), but the brilliant white and glowing yellow trail streamed from very high in the heavens down toward the setting sun and horizon. It seemed to stay lit and not burn out before hitting land or water?
I found myself holding my breath, staring at this first time sight. It was spectacular..only seen in movies, maybe! Now that I know what is was, I look forward to seeing more meteor sightings. Need to know when and where to keep my eyeballs looking up! Any tips?
M
on Nov 14th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Margaret,
Thanks for the comment. Please read my latest blog post entitled: The Leonids Meteor Shower Starting to Roar
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Nov 19th, 2009 at 10:01 am
I think I saw a meteor last night, Nov 18th, around 8:15 pm, over Jacksonville, FL, to the East. I was just stepping out my door to go for a run and it caught me completely by surprise. It looked like a flare or a fireworks going down vertically, above the treeline. But there was no sound so it must have been a meteor…
on Nov 19th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Vince,
Yes as a general rule meteors don’t usually make any audible sound.
Thanks for the comment.
- Meteor Mark