SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Was a green fireball that recently treated at least 500 people in 13 states who happened to look up at the sky at the right time an “incredibly bright” Taurid meteor? And will the typically prolific Leonids throw out similar spectacles when the shower peaks this week over San Francisco?

The Leonid meteor shower — known to produce fast, bright meteors as Earth plows through a trail of debris left behind by the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle — peaks Wednesday and Thursday morning just before dawn.

It depends on the weather, of course. AccuWeather calls for partly to mostly cloudy.

November is always a fun month for skywatching, but especially this year. A blood lunar eclipse during the full frost moon Thursday and Friday will be the longest-running lunar eclipse of the 21st century, according to NASA (more about that later).

The annual shower runs through Nov. 30, has a cyclonic peak every 33 years and spits out hundreds of meteors an hour, something that last happened in 2001. In normal years, count on 15 or so shooting stars an hour.

A nearly full moon will be troublesome for meteor watching, but if the Leonids produce fireballs, even bright moonlight won’t blot them out. As always, the darker the sky, the better, and your best bet is to time your visit around moonset on the peak mornings — between 5 and 6 am here in California.

The much-talked-about Taurid fireball Nov. 10 was reported by nearly 500 people in 13 East Coast states. One Patch reader commented that she was “thrilled to see” the green fireball in Hawthorne, New Jersey. “So did my husband,” she wrote, “so I know I wasn’t crazy. It was amazing.”

By the way, the Taurid meteor showers—that’s plural because they consist of two distinct branches, the South and North Taurids, both rich in fireballs—continue through Dec. 10. Both streams have peaked, the North Taurids Nov 11-12, just after the green fireball was reported on Nov 10.

This week’s big event is the lunar eclipse, which will be visible in all 50 states Thursday night and Friday morning. Technically, it’s a partial eclipse but will appear from our vantage point on Earth to be a total eclipse. At the peak of this event — lasting 3 hours, 28 minutes and 32 seconds — our planet will block 98 percent of the sun’s light from reaching the moon’s surface in a reddish hue.

Usually, light from the sun paints the face of the moon a grayish-white. But when the eclipse peaks around 4 am Eastern Time on the 19th, the moon will be washed in a reddish hue.

A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through Earth’s partial shadow, or penumbra, and only a portion of it passes through the darkest shadow, or umbra. A total or nearly total lunar eclipse like this one often is called a “blood moon” for this reason.

Lunar eclipses only happen during full moons. Indigenous people tracked the seasons by the full moon, and November’s is known by various names — the full frost moon, beaver moon and dark moon.

The approaching full cold moon — or long nights moon or moon before Yule — on Dec. 19 could interfere some with the Dec. 13-14 peak of the
Geminid meteor shower, but this annual sky show that rivals the Perseids in August produces shooting stars so bright they’ll be able to compete with the moonlight, according to Earthsky.org.

Multicolored meteors fly at a rate of anywhere from 50 to 120 an hour at the peak, which like most meteor showers is between midnight and dawn. The shower runs from Dec. 4-17

The final meteor shower of 2021, the Ursid meteor shower, runs from Dec. 17-26 The peak always occurs on Dec. 21, the winter solstice. The Ursids are fairly low-key, delivering five or 10 meteors an hour, but on rare occasions can produce outbursts of 100 or more meteors an hour. The meteors appear to come from the Ursa Minor constellation.

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Some major events are returning to San Francisco, including the Lunar New Year Parade and Pride.

Organizers are happy to hold events or parades again and believe it could be an emotional return for some.

“It’s just the general consensus that the way things look at this moment that we’re going to be out on Market Street,” said Suzanne Ford.

After the pandemic canceled big in-person events, the LGBTQ+ pride celebration and parade plans to return in June.

Ford is interim executive director of San Francisco Pride and said bringing visibility to the community is important.

“I think it’s going to be one of the emotional outpourings you’ve ever seen in the city of San Francisco,” said Ford. “I really think people have a deep hunger to be together on pride weekend.”

They’re working to safely shape the celebration.

“We will be working with the city and we will make sure that our community is safe and we’re working hand in hand with any city guidelines that they issue,” said Ford.

Lunar New Year celebrations are underground too. The parade will once again wind its way through the streets this weekend in San Francisco.

It’s happening as the omicron surge fades and after indoor mask rules have eased.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade also plans to return and so does Off The Grid’s weekly Fort Mason Food Truck Market.

“It signals to me that we’re getting through this pandemic because of our vaccination rates we are not seeing the number of fatalities that we have in the past and we’re definitely in a better place,” said Mayor London Breed. “I’m really excited about what this means for San Francisco.”

But does that mean the city can stay the course?

“Well I hope so and the more people that get vaccinated and boosted will help to put us in a situation that would ease even more restrictions I think for now I think we’re doing pretty good it doesn’t mean we won’t see another surge or more challenges in the future,” said Breed.

Meantime, plans for celebrations and some normalcy are moving ahead.

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The family-run Hong Kong Lounge is located in SF’s Outer Richmond District and serves as the staple for classic dim sum in the Bay Area. During this lunar new year, the restaurant offers a variety of take-away specialties, including a giant pot of festive foods known as a poon choi. This traditional dish is overflowing with special meat, seafood and vegetables that symbolize wealth and fortune.

Sweet treats also play an important role in the New Year’s dishes. The Hong Kong Lounge caters to customers Nian Gao (Year Cake) and Fa Gao (Prosperity Cake). Nian Gao is a circular, sticky rice cake most popularly consumed during the Lunar New Year to promote togetherness and happiness for a better year. Fa Gao is a steamed, yellow cake that is successful when consumed.

As the manager of her family’s restaurant, Tiffany Zhou hopes that New Year’s dinner at the Hong Kong Lounge will bring much-needed joy to families.

“I want you to be happy,” said Zhou. “And just remember, you know, sometimes you have to slow down and just enjoy the moment.”

Visit here to learn more about the Hong Kong Lounge and to place an order.

Every year, the Hong Kong Lounge, together with the Fort Point Beer Company, offers a special brunch with delicious dim sum dishes and beer offerings to celebrate the New Year and Beer Week. Visit here to pre-order your home dim sum brunch for Saturday 20th February.

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