Tonight, Vietnam welcomes a huge "fireball rain"

(NLDO) - The Southern Taurids is a meteor shower, but its meteors are unusually large and bright like fireballs, and fly very slowly.

There will be two meteor showers this November coming from the constellation Taurus. And they are both "fireball showers" and not regular meteor showers.

A fireball from the Taurids meteor shower - Photo: EARTHSKY

According to NASA, this meteor shower will peak on November 5. For Vietnam's time zone, the best night will be on the evening of November 4 and early morning of November 5.

According to Space.com , in 2024, viewing conditions for the Southern Taurids will be favorable, with the Moon only reaching about 15% brightness during the shower's peak.

However, the Northern Taurids meteor shower - which peaks on the night of November 11 and early morning of November 12 if observed from Vietnam - may be affected by the 84% brightness of the moon, obscuring some of the faintest meteors.

Map of the Northern Taurids and Southern Taurids meteor shower emission points - Graphic image: NASA

Both of these showers will only produce a modest number of meteors per hour. But they will still be spectacular, as the meteors from both showers are bigger and brighter than any other.

"The Taurids are very fireball-rich, so if you see a Taurid, it can be very bright and will dazzle you, even though their speed is really bad," said NASA meteorite expert Bill Cooke.

That's why the Southern Taurids meteor shower is often called the "Halloween fireball." This shower starts a few days before its peak, in late October.

Taurid meteors are larger than those that make up other meteor showers and can survive for longer periods of time as they pass through Earth's atmosphere.

NASA gives the example of the Orionids, which typically burn up at an altitude of about 59 miles (93 kilometers), while the Taurids typically fall to altitudes of up to 42 miles (66 kilometers).

Taurid meteors also travel at about 27 km/s; while Perseids meteors zip by at 59 km/s.

Although it originates from the constellation Taurus, the "culprit" causing the Taurids fireballs is the giant comet Encke, with a comet nucleus of about 4.8 m.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/dem-nay-viet-nam-don-cuc-dai-mua-cau-lua-196241104094032011.htm