By City News Service
Southern Californians were bewitched and intrigued tonight by an astronomical light show, visible over more than half the state.
The spectacular display was a type of meteor shower known as the South Taurids, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Curt Kaplan.
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Calls about the meteor shower began coming into the NWS office in Oxnard about 8:15 p.m. and continued for more than two hours, Kaplan said.
The brief but brilliantly flashing light trails were visible across a wide swath of Southern and Central California, from Los Angeles to San Diego and Riverside and as far north as Fresno, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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The science news website, EarthSky.org, said the South Taurids had been expected to peak early Tuesday morning.
The website described the Taurids as a meteoroid stream that produces a high percentage of fireballs, or exceptionally bright meteors.
With the region basking in seasonal Santa Ana wind conditions, and the night atmosphere and sky unusually clear, Kaplan said the light show was much more vivid than it might otherwise have been.
"It absolutely would help," Kaplan said. "There's not as much haze, so that would help, visibility-wise."
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