Each month, we share a Star Gazing Guide presented and organized by The Great Orbax, a science communicator from the University of Guelph's department of physics and local science education advocate.
Greetings Star Gazers!
I'm a science communicator from the department of physics at the University of Guelph and I'm here to fill you in on what our November night skies hold for the astro-curious out there, young and old.
In past articles we're talked a LOT about meteor showers. And why not? Shooting stars have captured the imagination of mankind for as long as we've been looking at the skies. To watch a piece of space dust burn its way across our atmosphere in a beautifully illuminated path of green and white is perhaps one of the most engaging things a person can witness. You'd be hard pressed to find a person who doesn't stop mid-sentence to say "Oh look, a shooting star" when one is within view.
We are currently experiencing two different meteor showers. The Leonids will be peaking this weekend on Nov. 17. Unfortunately, two days after our fourth Super Moon of autumn meaning that the light from the Moon will make it difficult to see. We are also currently passing through debris left from an asteroid which causes the annual Northern Taurids meteor shower. Maybe five meteors an hour at their peak. But they do have the privilege of regularly generating fireballs, something astronomers would call bolides. You may have heard about the Halloween Fireballs? Well, these were the result of the Taurids.
The term bolide can refer to several things but in this case I'm using it to describe an exceptionally bright shooting star. When we travel through the debris left by comets and asteroids we're typically encountering particulates the size of dust grains. With the Taurids, however, these particles are the size of pebbles. What that means is they take longer to burn up in our atmosphere, and if one makes its way low in the atmosphere before it burns then that is when we see a fireball! Just like the one seen in Guelph Monday night!
To give you some numbers, meteors typically burn up somewhere around 80 km above us. That's the distance from Guelph to Ingersoll. Fireballs can occur as close as 20 km away, so the distance from Guelph to Acton!
I hope you enjoy this month's Star Gazing Guide. If you want to learn more, check out the November Star Gazing Guide video on the Guelph Physics YouTube channel. Not only is Star Gazing a great way to learn about space, planets and the stars but it's also a great way to spend time with other curious minds.
Until next month, I wish you clear skies and I hope you take some time ... to look up.
