California fireball has witnesses alight with excitement
A meteor that toured the Southwest鈥檚 big skies on Monday has witnesses alight with excitement about the fireball鈥檚 bold show of light and color. Astronomers said that the meteor is from the South Taurids meteor shower, which is visible from Earth around Halloween each year.
On Nov. 6, The American Meteor Society recorded from Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, most of them from between 7 and 9 pm, PST, the organization said.
On the organization鈥檚 public log of 鈥渇ireball鈥� sightings, witnesses described a meteor that lit up the evening skies and ground with bright flashes of blue, red, and white light. Witness reported that the meteor was in brightness, size, and, for a moment, apocalyptic drama, unlike any other meteor to cruise their skies.
鈥淸It] was a very disturbing event to observe as it was unlike anything I've ever experienced,鈥� said one witness, Katie R., from Stevenson Ranch, California.
鈥淚t almost looked like an actual fire in the sky,鈥� said a witness from Ceres, California.
鈥淚t was an amazing sight,鈥� said another, from Phoenix, Arizona, 鈥渘ot the average shooting star.鈥�
The North American Aerospace Defense Command weather department told CNN that, chances are, Southwestern stargazers saw a meteor from the .
The shower, which appears to radiate from the constellation Taurus, is and reaches its apex between Nov. 5 and Nov. 12, according to Space.com. The North Taurids shower is visible later, from late Oct. to mid Dec., and as a collective the two showers are often called 鈥淗alloween fireballs,鈥� for their well-timed arrival in a season of spooks and scares.
The last meteor sighting that numerous witnesses reported to The American Meteor Society was on Oct. 30, when 360 people in the northwestern US reported a meteor also of .听
