Fireball causes night sky to become ‘bright as day'
The Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers have long since peaked, but a few night owls and cameras in the Pacific Northwest may have caught a small encore early Sunday morning when a flash of light illuminated the sky.
Nearly 30 witness reports from Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada recorded a stray fireball shooting across the sky a little after 3:30 a.m. PST, with some accounts saying it lit up the sky like daylight.
"The initial flash made the whole area as bright as day," one spotter identified as Ed P. from Madras, Oregon, told the American Meteor Society.
"It looked like a firework in the wrong direction, but I could tell it was not close," spotter Trenton M. from Twin Falls, Idaho, wrote.
Another account from Nampa, Idaho, identified as Kyle J., noted that it had first seemed like a spotlight from a helicopter before it "exploded and shot across the sky."
For another witness, Barbara W., spotting the fireball was a serendipitous event.
"It was an accident. I woke up early morning, looked out the window, and saw this amazing sight," Barbara wrote.
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A fireball raced across the sky after 3 a.m. in Eagle, Idaho, on Nov. 13. (Jordan Ragsdale) |
While the Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers have already peaked, they aren't done dazzling the skies just yet.
"Given the trajectory of the fireball, it is a possibility that it was related to either the Northern Taurid or Southern Taurid meteor showers, both of which peaked during the first half of November but are active into December," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Lada said. "These two meteor showers are known for producing more fireballs than other meteor showers throughout the year."
He added that not every shooting star or fireball is related to a meteor shower, however.
At least 102 fireball events with at least five witness reports were recorded across the U.S. from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15, according to the American Meteor Society, with six of the events each accumulating over 100 reports from Nov. 4 to Nov. 9.
The fireball with the highest number of reports was on Nov. 9 with 177 reports and was witnessed across a handful of Midwestern and Southern states.
For those hoping for the chance to catch a stray fireball via camera, there is no one favorable direction to turn the lens other than "up with as much of the night sky in the field of view as possible," Lada said.
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