#skywatching

#skywatching

The Taurid meteor shower blooms when Earth flies through debris left behind by Comet 2P/Encke. Encke has among the shortest orbital periods of all comets identified by scientists to date, completing one loop around the sun every 3.3 years. As the object zips around the warmest part of that loop near the sun, its ice turns to gas, which causes the comet to shed dust and other material.

Sky-gazers worldwide will see a brilliant celestial display this week as the Orionid meteor shower peppers the sky in bright trails of light. The meteor shower, which is occasionally known to produce fireballs, is set to peak at 8 p.m. ET Monday, according to EarthSky. The Orionids don't have a sharp peak, "so if you happen to get clouded out on that night, don't despair,"

'My next thought was fireworks but I'm 90% sure it wasn't that, and there was no explosion. 'For reference it was about the same size as the full-ish moon tonight, visible through the clouds, but as a much brighter blue green color and, again, moving quite fast. 'It was a very odd combination of speed, size and brightness and didn't look like anything I've ever seen in the sky here before.'

A rare planetary alignment will occur on August 10, involving Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune visible in an arc in the night sky.