St. Louis was experiencing a fireball show recently, the phenomenon being captured on cameras. KSDL and KMOV reported the meteor falling from the skies on a Monday night, which amazed the population of St. Louis, Missouri. According to both stations, people observed an odd yet very bright flash of light accompanied by a noise. The phenomenon occurred at about 8:55 pm. David Vergel, a Twitter user, used an EarthCam directed at the city’s well-known Gateway Arch and captured the object streaking into the atmosphere. He posted the unique footage on Twitter. Other people succeeded to observe and enjoy the event with the help of their home security cameras. The Northern Taurid meteor shower is one to choose to impress due to its brighter-than-usual meteors named fireballs. St. Louis happens to be on the eastern point of the highest perceptibility place on the map, according to KSDK. Bill Cooke, a NASA meteor specialist, explained on Space.com the importance of Northern Taurid Meteor. He stated, “The Taurids are rich in fireballs, so if you see a Taurid, it can be very brilliant, and it’ll knock your eyes out, but their rates absolutely suck. […] when a Taurid appears, it’s usually big and bright.”
National Weather Service reported that the object succeeded in to arrive at the ground intact. Moreover, KSDK said that the next meteor shower would strike the planet is the Leonids, on November 16, and then will be short pause until the Geminids strike in mid-December.
Good to Know
Taurids represent an annual meteor shower, linked to the comet Encke. They came as two separate showers, a Southern and a Northern one. The constellation Taurus is the one which inspired astronomers to name the Taurids. Because they appear in late October and early November, they are also named Halloween fireballs. If the Taurids shower meteors are bigger than a pebble, they might become bolides as bright as the moon and leave behind smoke traces.
