The Taurids may not have deserved the hype and name recognition that comes with other meteor showers like the Orionidsbut skywatchers may still find it helpful to look up to catch a shooting star or two as they reach their peak.

Famous for their slowness and longevity, Taurid meteors move across the sky at about 65,000 miles per hour – a fraction of the whizzing 248,000 mph meteors of the Orionid shower. But if the Orionids are considered the most beautiful and The Perseids are considered the best Among meteor showers, the Taurids have one asset: fireballs.

Each year, the northern and southern branches of the Taurids are responsible for increased reports of fireballs, large explosions of light and color, when they become visible for several weeks at the end of the year. November is when meteors produced by the two branches of the Taurid meteor stream will be most active, starting this week with the Southern Taurids.

Here’s when and how spectators can give themselves the best chance of catching this year’s peak of Taurid activity.

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When can you see the Southern Taurids meteor shower?

Southern Taurid meteors can be seen when the Taurus constellation is above the horizon between September and November, according to NASA.

While the Southern Taurids are active each year between September 23 and December 8, astronomers predict that the celestial light show will be the most visible Monday and Tuesday, according to the American Mogenic Society.

The Northern Taurids, which are active between October 13 and December 2, will then reach their maximum around November 11 and 12.

Lasting several weeks, Taurid meteor streams tend to move slowly and offer higher visibility than other meteor showers like the Orionids And Perseids.

Even at their peak, neither the southern nor the northern branches of the Taurid meteor stream are particularly frequent, producing only about five meteors per hour.

But the meteors they produce are known to be large and bright, leading to increased fireball activity when they are active at the same time, according to the American Mogenic Society.

How to observe the Taurids

The Taurids, which originate approximately in the direction of the Taurus constellation, are visible almost everywhere on Earth, with the exception of the South Pole.

The best time of day to witness the activity is usually after midnight and before dawn. This is when the moon will not interfere with the display and the constellation Taurus, where meteors appear to emerge – or radiate, according to Earth Skya website devoted to astronomy and Earth sciences.

Located northeast of the constellation Orion, Taurus can be identified by finding the bright red star known as Aldebaran and the pendulum-shaped star cluster Pleiades. And as long as astronomers are in a dark location, equipment like telescopes and binoculars shouldn’t be needed to spot a shooting star.

“Meteor hunting, like the rest of astronomy, is a waiting game, so it’s best to bring a comfortable chair to sit in and warm up because you might be out for a while.” according to the Royal Museums of Greenwich.

What causes the Taurid meteor shower?

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through trails of dusty debris left behind by comets and other space objects as they orbit the sun. The debris – space rocks known as meteoroids – collide with Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and disintegrate, creating fiery, colorful trails in the sky. according to NASA.

The resulting fireballs, better known as “shooting stars,” are meteors. If meteoroids survive their journey to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere, they are called meteoritessays NASA.

Astronomers believe that the meteors produced by the two Taurid currents are debris left by Encke’s comet.

Considered by some astronomers to be a piece of a larger comet that broke up tens of thousands of years ago, Encke has the shortest orbital period of any known comet in the Solar System, putting 3.3 years to orbit the sun.

Each time Comet Encke returns to the inner solar system, its relatively small core throws ice and rocks into space to create a vast debris stream.

The debris flow is scattered over such a large swath of space that it takes a long time for Earth to cross it. This is why we see two segments from the same cloud of debris, according to the Royal Museums in Greenwich: the Northern Taurids and the Southern Taurids.

Eric Lagatta covers the latest news and trends for USA TODAY. Contact him at [email protected]

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: The Southern Taurids meteor shower reaches its peak in 2024: when and where to see it