Did you miss the Orionids meteor shower? Here’s when you can see the next one | Viewing dates for the Southern Taurids
All you need to know about the upcoming Southern Taurids meteor shower, which is expected to serve up “big and bright” fireballs in the sky.
If you missed the October 21-22 peak of the Orionids meteor shower, do not worry: there are several such celestial events every year. Indeed, another is on the way early next month, with “brilliant” fireballs in prospect.
What is a meteor shower?
Meteors are pieces of rock and ice ejected from comets, explains NASA, the U.S.’s state space agency.
Described by NASA as “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun”, comets give off sizeable streams of debris when they warm up in the higher temperatures of the inner solar system.
A meteor shower then becomes visible on Earth when our home planet passes through this debris trail.
So when exactly is the next meteor shower peak?
Per the American Meteor Society (AMS), a shower known as the Southern Taurids is predicted to reach peak visibility on the evening of Tuesday, November 4 to Wednesday, November 5.
The Southern Taurids are debris from 2P/Encke, a small comet whose nucleus has a diameter of just under three miles. That’s considerably smaller than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs when it collided with Earth 66 million years ago. Encke orbits the Sun every 3.3 years.
“When Earth passes through [Encke’s] debris the ‘comet crumbs’ heat up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in bright bursts of light, streaking a vivid path across the sky,” says Space.com’s Daisy Dobrijevic.
“Rich in fireballs”
Encke is also the parent comet of the Northern Taurids, a second meteor shower that is slated to peak on the evening of Tuesday, November 11 to Wednesday, November 12, according to the AMS.
Speaking to Dobrijevic, NASA’s Bill Cooke said: “The Taurids are rich in fireballs, so if you see a Taurid it can be very brilliant and it’ll knock your eyes out […].
“It’s simply the fact that when a Taurid appears it’s usually big and bright.”
What’s the best time and place to see the Southern Taurids?
With the exception of Antarctica, they are visible from almost anywhere on Earth. According to star-gazing experts EarthSky, the best time to watch the meteor shower is the hours around midnight.
The Southern Taurids “will appear to originate from the constellation Taurus”, EarthSky adds. To find the Taurus constellation in the night sky, check out this video explainer:
Tips for watching meteor showers
NASA recommends finding a space well away from the city or street lights. “Lie flat on your back, and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible,” the agency says. “In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors.”
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