taurids meteor shower

Fireball meteor shower set to linger in Toronto area skies

Toronto-area skies are about to be blessed with meteor shower that's a bit different than the others. The North Taurids meteors are expected to peak this weekend, offering the chance to see a few fireballs streaking across the sky.

Here's why you should have the Taurids on your radar. Although this is a low frequency shower — roughly five shooting stars will appear each hour during the peak — the meteors that are visible tend to be eye-popping thanks to the size of debris left by the Comet Encke.

Perhaps better still, because the peak is minimal, you can't miss the North Taurids on account of one night of clouds. The shower is expected to yield shooting stars — some of which will be fireballs — throughout the duration of November.

In other words, while you'll have to wait a while if you're staring at the sky looking for these meteors, you'll have numerous days to do so — and the reward could be big. So keep an eye out.

As with all meteor showers, the North Taurids are named after the constellation from which they appear to derive, in this case Taurus. Look for this constellation in the hours around midnight for your best chance of catching the celestial show.

You'll want to get somewhere very dark to witness the North Taurids, but that's the only requirement. So if you have a late fall getaway planned, make sure to slip in some time for stargazing.

Lead photo by

Mike Lewinski


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