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Over the next two months, Earth's orbit will encounter meteor showers likely to bring fireballs or "earth grazers" -- which should be visible above South Carolina as several November and December showers overlap.
The prolonged showers come from the Taurids, Leonid and Geminids, which are visible each fall and winter with some years filled with more activity than others.
The North and South Taurid meteor showers both radiate from the constellation Taurus the Bull, which can be seen high in the sky in the middle of the night. Moonlight obscures most views of meteorites, so viewing should be better when there is no moon or a crescent rather than a full moon.
The South Taurid meteors are active now through Nov. 20. The North Taurids meteors are active through Dec. 10. EarthSky.com suggests the number of visible meteorites may peak this week, with the Leonid meteor shower overlapping, running until Dec. 2 with a predicted peak of Nov. 17-18 producing up to 15 meteors an hour. Not all astronomers agree on when peak viewing occurs, especially in climates where humidity affects atmospheric clarity. The Leonid surprised astronomers in 1966 with thousands of meteorites visible, according to Earth Sky, which says that the shower gave observers the sense of our planet moving through a star storm.
Taurids may bring some fireballs into view.
These fireballs are meteorites that shatter into fragments as they sizzle through the atmosphere. Astronomers sometimes nickname them "earth grazers," since scorched fragments occasionally make it all the way to Earth. Don't worry. The fragments won't be as big as the meteorite that smashed down in Russia in 2013, an impact that blew out skyscraper windows in a nearby city. Scientists concluded that behemoth was 66 feet in diameter and zoomed down at 42,690 miles per hour.
Any fragments that hit Earth this autumn and winter should fit easily in the palm of a person's hand.
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In 2017, a team of Clemson University astrophysicists confirmed that two plum-sized speckled rocks that dented the roof of a Pawleys Island home were meteorite fragments from outer space. The homeowner noticed the rock looked like it had been molten then turned solid again. And it felt heavier than a normal rock its size should be.
South Carolina State Museum planetarium manager Liz Klimek explained that it is extremely rare for any fragments to hit Earth. But she witnessed a spectacular meteor shower in 2002 while living in Nebraska that looked -- and sounded -- like it had a few earth grazers. One winter night, she drove to a rural corn field and stood surrounded by frost and frozen corn stalks to watch a meteorite shower.
"Suddenly, the sky looked like it was raining stars from every direction," she said. One fireball flew over her "so low I could hear it hiss."
She believes that South Carolinians will find it worth the gas money to drive to a dark, rural place to see the upcoming sky shows.
The American Meteor Society reports that this winter the Geminid meteor shower may be a rare chance to see meteorites that blaze with color depending on the minerals and materials that compose them. The multi-colored cosmic eye candy is most likely to be visible in the active Geminids from Dec. 4-24, with a peak predicted Dec. 13-14.
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Magnesium meteors burn sky blue as they plummet toward Earth, while iron glows gold, calcium burns vividly violet, nitrogen burns red and sodium is orange, according to AccuWeather. Colors may appear more intense the faster a meteor travels.
The problem is, they are so fast, they may vanish into oblivion before a human can detect a color.
Klimek's advice for meteor watching is: don't bother bringing a telescope or binoculars. It's impossible to know where in the sky the earth grazers will appear. Instead, bring a buddy, some coffee and a comfortable chair that leans back a bit. Then patiently look up and watch the sky. A meteorite can literally zoom out of sight in an eye blink.
"It can be a challenge to find a dark place away from city light with no trees or buildings blocking the view," she said, adding that most parks close at nightfall and some dark places aren't safe to visit alone.
Lowcountry Stargazers is part of NASA's "dark skies network," which is comprised of astronomy clubs that seek out spots where artificial lights don't obscure the night sky. The club will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 13 at Brittlebank Park off Lockwood Drive, downtown, along the Ashley River. The next night, the club will meet at the Johns Island Public Library at 5 p.m.
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Klimek said Saturn's beautiful rings and Jupiter's cloud stripes will be visible through good binoculars. She advised that Saturn begins sparkling in the twilight and is just below the constellation Pegasus in the night sky. Jupiter can be seen near Orion at about 11 p.m.
The solar system's most-distant planet, bluish-green Neptune, will be visible from Earth with a good small, portable telescope in December. But even with an astronomy app as a guide, it's difficult to spot. Klimek has seen Neptune through a telescope but isn't sure whether she detected its aqua hue or imagined it.