Meteor shower season is in full swing by now and, despite the last meteor shower having appeared not even two weeks ago, another is coming this week: the Taurids. The good news: one does not have to wait for the weekend in order to start seeing meteors, which are streaking through the sky right now..
Despite what most of the news media may lead you to believe, there is a lot more to the meteor shower than the night of the peak. While most news outlets only focus on the peak night, the fact is that the Taurids are already blazing trails through the sky.
Unlike what may have been suggested by most non-astronomical news sources, the Taurids last for almost a month, about a week and a half on either side of the peak night. Why? The shower is caused by Earth running into a trail of space debris from a source that is still undetermined. Think of it as a rainstorm. When driving into a rain shower, the rain does not come and go in a sudden burst. Likewise, the trail of cometary debris is the same way in that it starts very light, gets thicker until the deepest point is reached, and then starts lightening up again until the Earth passes completely through. The shower is called the Taurid because the meteors seem to radiate from the constellation Taurus.
Every October-November, Earth passes through the stretch of space junk, reaching the deepest concentration on the nights from November 5. According to some estimates, under ideal conditions (dark country skies), one can expect to see 15 meteors per hour come peak night. The best time to view is in the hours after 3:30am as Taurus is at its highest then, about two thirds of the way to Zenith in the Southern sky. To improve odds of seeing meteors, travel out to the country to escape suburban/urban light domes.
Unfortunately, the Moon will increasingly be a problem as the week goes along, winding up as a waxing gibbeous by week's end, which further dictates the best time for viewing meteors is early in the morning thanks to the fact that, by this time, the Moon will have set.
As always, astronomers in the Cleveland area should be sure to keep an eye on the Cleveland weather forecastand, for hour-by-hour cloud predictions, the Cleveland Clear Sky Clock. The good news: the weather, for this time of year, is looking really good in the Cleveland area this week. Live somewhere else? Find a clockand see if it will be clear near you.
Good luck and clear skies to all.
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