Heads up stargazers! The Southern Taurid meteor shower peaks overnight on Nov. 4-5, when a flurry of bright meteors could potentially be seen streaking through Earth's sky as our planet passes through the outer edge of a debris swarm shed by the wandering comet 2P/Encke.

Shooting stars are seen when shards of ancient comets collide with Earth's atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour, which swiftly burn up in a magnificent display as they're overwhelmed by the friction created by collisions with air molecules in the atmosphere. The Southern Taurids are known for producing spectacular fireballs, as particularly large pieces of interplanetary debris can slam into our planet that can produce meteors that can momentarily turn night to day as they flare to life in the night sky.

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