Skygazers, get ready for an active night sky this week and next. Following the supermoon last week, we’ve also got three annual meteor showers happening right now: the Northern Taurids, which peaks Tuesday night; the Southern Taurids, which has already peaked but is ongoing through November; and the Leonids, which peaks early next week.
While these showers aren’t as prolific as the biggest ones, including August’s Perseids and January’s Quadrantids, you can still marvel at meteors with a bit of luck and some tips we’ll provide.
Not everyone understands what a meteor shower actually is, but it’s fairly simple. Shooting stars are a common occurrence in space around planet Earth. According to NASA, 48.5 tons of meteoritic material hit Earth’s atmosphere every year. Sometimes, enough of that material comes from the same spot, and we humans refer to those as meteor showers.
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The Southern Taurids and Northern Taurids originate from the Taurus constellation.
Southern Taurids: Ongoing
The Southern Taurids shower, one of the longest meteor showers of the year, lasts for two months.
Southern Taurids peaked on the evening of Nov. 4, spawning upwards of five meteors per hour during that peak, but is expected to hang around through this week and next. Southern Taurids is known for its increased chance of fireballs, which are meteors that are brighter than most. According to some reports, these fireballs can be brighter than the planet Venus when they streak across the night sky.
All meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to originate, a spot known as the radiant. For the Southern Taurids, the radiant is in the Taurus constellation near the Pleiades star cluster, so that is where you’ll want to look for them. Taurus will be visible in the eastern sky shortly after sunset and end its evening in the western sky as the sun rises.
Northern Taurids: Peaks Nov. 11-12
The Northern Taurids meteor shower is set to peak over the next couple of days, on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s identical to the Southern Taurids, only with a later peak date. The origin point will be the Taurus constellation, producing an average of five meteors per hour with an increased chance of fireballs.
The Leonids meteor shower will appear from the Leo constellation.
The Leonids: Peaks Nov. 16-17
Of the three November meteor showers, Leonids should be the most active. It is fed by the Tempel-Tuttle Comet, which can produce some dense debris clouds, resulting in very strong showers. The Leonids meteor shower is set to peak this weekend, on Nov. 16 to 17.
Some sources say that seeing as many as 15 visible meteors per hour is possible, while NASA estimates a more conservative three per hour under dark skies. It’s impossible to know for sure how active this shower will be until the peak occurs.
As the name implies, Leonids will appear out of the Leo constellation. Leo is visible in the eastern sky between midnight and 1 a.m. local time.
According to the American Meteor Society, Leonids has produced some intense meteor showers as recently as 2002, but isn’t scheduled to do so again until 2031, 2064 and 2099 as the comet returns to the solar system. During these rare meteor storms, NASA says that it’s possible to see upwards of 1,000 meteors per hour.
Both Taurids and Leonids will likely show off one meteor at a time, so keep your eyes peeled.
Tips for watching meteor showers
Here are some tips and tricks that will help increase your odds of spotting a meteor in November.
Get away from light pollution
This is the most important guideline to follow. Simply put, city lights make meteors harder to see.
“Light pollution will definitely hamper your viewing of meteors,” Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, told . “The more light pollution you are under, the fewer meteors you’ll see.”
Nichols says that unfavorable conditions can reduce the number of meteors you see by as much as 75%.
Head to the countryside and find a spot that is as dark as possible. (There are other sources of light pollution that humans can’t do anything about, like the moon.)
The Southern Taurids peaked during November’s full moon, which is also a supermoon, meaning it shares the maximum amount of light pollution you can get from the moon. If you’re going to skip any of these showers, the Southern Taurids is probably the best choice. The other two showers will have much more favorable celestial conditions.
Don’t take any equipment
Meteor showers typically have an origin point, but you won’t need binoculars or telescopes.
“You want to just use your eyes,” said Nichols. “Binoculars or telescopes both look at ever-smaller pieces of sky, and you want to be able to look around at the entire sky.”
Meteors are very fast, and a magnification device may obstruct your ability to see the whole path. Nichols says that Taurids meteors tend to travel at 17 to 18 miles per second, while Orionids may travel as fast as 41 miles per second.
Also, meteors don’t last for a long time.
“Look for short-lived, quick streaks of light,” Nichols says. “Meteors tend to last a fraction of a second to maybe a few seconds for the longer-lived ones.”
Nichols also notes that much of the material falling to Earth’s surface is “only about the size of a grain of sand.” As such, the streak humans often see isn’t the meteor itself, but rather the “glowing, superheated air that surrounds that bit of comet material” as it plummets toward Earth.
Dress for the occasion
Unless you live in the Deep South, it’s likely to be cold outside in November. Dressing for the occasion means you’ll be able to stay out longer, even if it’s chilly.
“When you go outside, dress warmly in layers, even if it’s not terribly cold where you are,” says Nichols. “You’ll be out there for a while, and at night, you may easily get chilled, especially if it’s damp out.”
Nichols recommends bringing an extra chair to put your feet on to keep them off the cold ground, especially if it’s wet, and also recommends against drinking alcohol, which causes blood vessels to dilate, causing the body to lose heat faster.
Patience is a virtue
The phrase “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” is about as apropos as it gets for meteor watching. Showers are unpredictable, and every number you’ve seen in this article or elsewhere online is essentially an estimate. You’ll want to make sure to give yourself as much time as you can to get settled.
“Give your eyes at least 20-30 minutes to adjust to the darkness,” Nichols advises. “You may not see meteors right away. And when you do, they’ll be sporadic.”
If it were easy to spot meteors, then it wouldn’t be special. You can help yourself by reducing your phone screen brightness to its lowest setting to preserve your night vision, and by using flashlights, not big camping lanterns.
