November 5 is Fireworks Night in the United Kingdom when families burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, the man who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. No doubt some will be set off this year to celebrate the US election too.

But this year we will be able to enjoy credit-crunch fireworks for free, thanks to nature, if a prediction by leading meteor scientists comes true.

The Taurids are an annual show that delivers regular bright meteors in low numbers for much of October and November. They are the widely spread remains of a once great comet.

Expert David Asher, of Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, expects the Earth to run into a particularly dense part of the swarm of debris on November 5. It will cross another concentrated mass on the 12th, he says, but the Moon will then be much brighter in the sky, drowning out much of the display.

Around 20 Taurids could be visible an hour at best, including a handful of fireballs, Asher tells New Scientist’s website. In 2005, the shower produced some meteors brighter than Venus.

If you have got kids or are planning a party, you might not want to rely too much on freebie fireworks – showers are notoriously unreliable and, in any case, tend to be at their best in the early morning hours.

A fragment of the original comet, called 2P/Encke, is still seen circling the sun once every 3.4 years – the shortest period known. Its orbit was shortened by the gravitational influence of Jupiter. The comet hit astronomical headlines last year when a blast of solar wind detached and blew away its tail.

Picture: A fireball photographed by Paul Sutherland.

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