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The Southern Taurids Meteor Shower peaks in the morning of November 5th and the Northern Taurids Meteor Shower peaks in the early morning hours of November 12th. The Southern and Northern Taurids meteoroid streams are part the dust particles associated with the Comet 2P/Encke. These meteors will be seen streaking across the sky emanating from the constellation Taurus. The Taurids are not a major meteor shower, but they should turn out 5 to 12 meteors per hour during their peak or about 1 or 2 meteors every 10 minutes. This is nothing compared to what is in store for meteor gazers later in the month when the Leonids come into view. There are some rumors floating around that the Leonids Meteor Shower, which starts November 10th, could produce about ten times the amount of meteors that will be seen during these meteor showers.
The Taurids are known for being easy to plot and track because they move across the sky relatively slower than other meteors do. Their brightness and comparative slowness makes them easier to photograph as well. When viewing a Taurids meteor one should trace their backward path to the constellation Taurus, in other words the meteors would seemingly appear to have originated from this constellation. Taurids are also known as Halloween Fireballs because they tend to produce fireballs and bolides (see the meteor glossary on this site for more details about fireballs and bolides). Meteor gazers will notice activity from the Taurids in the first two weeks of November and then will be treated by a monstrous display from the Leonids. Unfortunately, this year the Moon will be almost full for most of the Taurids but the constellation Taurus does appear high in the sky for Northern Hemisphere viewers which usually means more visible meteors, but don’t expect much more. This is a great time to familiarize oneself with the night sky and find the constellation Leo, as it will be the focal point for the next meteor shower the Leonids, which occurs later this month.
As always feel free to comment, bookmark the site, join the mailing list and keep your head up because the Leonids are going to dazzle you!
- Meteor Mark
