SUNSET SKY SHOW: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest. Venus, Saturn and the crescent Moon are gathering to form a bright triangle in the sunset sky. They are so easy to find, you won't even need a sky map.
AURORA OUTBURST: Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind. As a result, auroras were supposed to subside on Nov. 1st. Instead, the sky over Iceland exploded. "The Northern Lights came fast and furious," reports Olivier Staiger, who took this picture from the Laxa hotel near Lake Myvatn:
What happened? Earth passed through a region of space filled with negative polarity (south pointing) magnetic fields. These fields opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the sudden display.
Auroras are supposed to subside even more on Nov. 2nd. Stay tuned for the unexpected. Free: Aurora Alerts.
WATCH OUT FOR TAURID FIREBALLS: Every year in late October and early November, Earth passes through a river of space dust associated with Comet Encke. Tiny specks of debris hit Earth's atmosphere, producing a minor shower of meteors known as the Taurids. Although the shower is minor (typically, it only produces a few meteors per hour) it is nevertheless remarkable. The debris stream of comet Encke is spiced with gravely nuggets that tend to disintegrate as bright fireballs. Karoly Jonas caught this one blazing over the bright urban lights of Budapest on Oct. 31st:
There are signs that the shower is intensifying as November begins. NASA's network of all-sky meteor cameras has counted more than a dozen Taurid fireballs over the USA in the past few nights.
When should you look? You might see a fireball flitting across the sky any time Taurus is above the horizon. At this time of year, the Bull rises in the east at sunset. The odds of seeing a bright meteor improve as the constellation climbs higher. By midnight, Taurus is nearly overhead, so that is a particularly good time.
Note: This meteor shower requires patience. In fact, it's more of a slow drizzle than a shower. From any given place on Earth, fireballs might appear no more often than once every few hours. A drizzle of fireballs, however, is worth observing. So keep an eye on the sky in the nights ahead for Taurids.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Realtime Airglow Photo Gallery