‘Halloween fireballs’ may light up the night sky

Ghosts and goblins and … fireballs? No, not the candy, but a swarm of brilliant meteors could grace the skies for Halloween. Earth might pass through a meteor swarm this weekend, which could generate some spectacularly bright shooting stars for any trick-or-treaters who dare look up from their stash.

The swarm is part of the typically low-key Taurid meteor shower, a trail of debris from comet 2P/Encke. Every few years, Earth passes through a clump of unusually large comet bits, which can light up the sky with fireballs. Astronomer David Asher, of the Armagh Observatory in Ireland, correctly predicted the 2005 Taurid swarm, and he thinks Earth is due for one this year as well.

The best time to see the meteors over the next week is a little after midnight when the constellation Taurus, from which the shooting stars will appear to originate, is high in the sky.