Monday, November 12th, a meteor lit up the sky in St. Louis, Missouri. Hundreds of residents reported the bright blue light falling through the sky as if lightning struck. Throughout at least two counties, the light flashed across backyards. Many residents also reported hearing a loud boom as the meteor flew across the sky at about 9 pm.

The meteor shower resonates with the Northern Taurids meteor shower known for its beautiful bright fireballs. The Taurid is produced by debris colliding in the atmosphere. This happening occurs annually, usually during the last three months of the year.

The American Meteor Society mentioned, most sightings were reported from Missouri, but some were reported from Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. Mostly in Missouri, home security cameras caught the meteor’s bright light on camera. Based upon the sightings, the fireball traveled east to west and ended its flight near Wellsville, Missouri. Although, the National Weather Service could not confirm that the meteor touched down or burned the atmosphere.

In other recent news, the American Meteor Society mentions the Northern Taurids, Southern Taurids, and Leonids are active now. The next meteor showers coming up are Geminids and Ursids. Geminids will be active from December 4th to the 17th. Plus, Ursids will be active from December 17th to 26th.

Meteor showers are celestial events where meteors are observed to originate in the night sky called Radiant. They are caused by streams of debris that enter Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds of 11 km/sec to 72 km/sec. The Meteor Data Center lists over 900 suspected meteor showers. The moonlight conditions can affect meteor shower conditions as well.