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Observing the Taurid meteor shower
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The peak of this year’s Taurid meteor shower begins tonight and lasts throughout the coming week.
There are actually two related groups of meteors falling from the sky in the coming days. The Southern Taurids peak first, with the highest meteor activity expected on the nights of November 4 and November 5. The Northern Taurid meteors take over later in the week, peaking around November 12.
The Taurids are not the most spectacular of meteor showers, but they make up in duration what they lack in quantity. The full meteor shower actually lasts for two months, from around September 25 until November 25. Peak activity from the shower remains low throughout this time, usually no more than about 5 meteors per hour. Around the Southern and Northern peaks, however, you could see up to 15 meteors in one hour.
Known for their slow-moving trails across the sky and for their occasional production of bright fireballs, the Taurid meteor shower consists of the dust particles left behind by Encke’s comet. The Earth passes through the comet’s debris trail twice per year. The results are the Taurid meteor shower in the fall and the Beta Taurid meteor shower in June and July.
To observe the Taurids, look for the constellation of Taurus a few hours after sunset. Taurus rises almost exactly in the east around 7:30 PM in New York City and continues to climb higher throughout the night. The constellation reaches its highest point around 1:30 AM, when it will be nearly overhead. The almost-Full Moon this week will complicate viewing somewhat, so try to observe the meteors before the Moon rises or when it is far from Taurus (click here for Moon rising and setting times). While you will find the Moon actually in Taurus on the nights of November 4 and 5, it will move farther from Taurus, and from the meteor shower, on subsequent nights.
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- Amateur Astronomers Association of New York City
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- Brooklyn Astronomy Meetup
- Columbia University Astronomy Public Outreach
- Inwood Astronomy Project
- New Jersey Astronomical Association
- NYC Physics and Astronomy Meetup
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- Hayden Planetarium (American Museum of Natural History)
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- New York Hall of Science
- Rose Center for Earth and Space (American Museum of Natural History)
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