Each November the sky offers a quiet lesson in patience, and this week a stream of dust from an old comet, Encke, is putting on a slow, amber-tinted show above the people willing to stay up for it. The Northern Taurids reach their height as a waning moon lingers low, leaving a window of dark sky after midnight in which fragments older than memory burn briefly across the constellation of the Bull. For those who step away from the glow of towns and let their eyes adjust, the night holds both ordinary wonder and the rare flash of a fireball. Soon the Leonids will take up the same watch, reminding
Northern Taurid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight Alongside Leonids: How and Where to Watch
Slow, colorful, and sometimes a golden fireball
Mark
Why does this shower get called colorful when most people picture white streaks?
Mimi
The Taurids are slow and tend to look yellowish-orange. The debris from Comet Encke includes larger fragments, so the occasional fireball stands out.
Luke
Worth noting the rate: 5 to 10 an hour, up to 15 at peak. That's modest. Fireballs are described as sometimes appearing, not guaranteed.
Mark
So why might Wednesday be better than Tuesday?
Mimi
The peak spans both nights, but Space.com says Wednesday has about four hours of moonless sky before moonrise after midnight.
Luke
Be careful there. That's one outlet's assessment, and the article hedges with 'may be the best night.' It's a suggestion, not a measurement.
Mark
And the Southern Taurids overlap?
Mimi
Yes, they peaked Nov. 4-5 but stay active through Nov. 20. The overlap is said to be able to double the fireball display.
Luke
'Can produce' is doing work in that sentence. The piece doesn't give a number for how many fireballs to expect on any given night.
Mark
What about the Leonids?
Mimi
They peak the morning of Nov. 18, best seen the night of Nov. 17, with 10 to 15 an hour or more.
Luke
Local weather and your own sky darkness will matter more than any of these figures. None of it is something the article can promise.
O Pulso
- The Northern Taurid peak arrives Nov. 11-12, with up to 15 meteors an hour sweeping across the night.
- A waning gibbous moon threatens to wash out the show, so the window before moonrise is tight and time-sensitive.
- Slow, yellowish-orange Taurids carry larger debris from Comet Encke, so bright fireballs can flare without warning.
- The overlapping Southern Taurids may nearly double the fireball count, and Wednesday night looks like the best bet.
- Watchers are told to escape city lights, wait 20 to 30 minutes for dark adaptation, and watch after midnight until dawn.
Each November the sky offers a quiet lesson in patience, and this week a stream of dust from an old comet, Encke, is putting on a slow, amber-tinted show above the people willing to stay up for it. The Northern Taurids reach their height as a waning moon lingers low, leaving a window of dark sky after midnight in which fragments older than memory burn briefly across the constellation of the Bull. For those who step away from the glow of towns and let their eyes adjust, the night holds both ordinary wonder and the rare flash of a fireball. Soon the Leonids will take up the same watch, reminding anyone who looks up that the sky has its own calendar.
The Northern Taurid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 11, into Wednesday, Nov. 12, and the sky is cooperating. A waning gibbous moon is on the calendar, but it rises late enough to leave a stretch of dark sky for stargazers.
The Taurids are slow, colorful meteors, often yellowish-orange, shed by Comet Encke. Their debris includes larger fragments than most comets leave, which is why the stream sometimes produces bright fireballs. Expect five to ten meteors an hour, with up to fifteen at the peak.
Two Taurid streams are active together. The Southern Taurids, which peaked Nov. 4-5, overlap with this week's Northern peak, and the combination can roughly double the fireball display. Both radiate from Taurus the Bull, near Aldebaran and the Pleiades.
Wednesday night may be the better choice, since about four moonless hours remain before moonrise after midnight. The advice is simple: head to a dark, rural spot, give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust, and look anywhere in the sky. The best viewing runs from after midnight until dawn.
The Leonids are already underway and peak on Nov. 17-18, when they can deliver ten to fifteen fast meteors an hour under a dark sky and a waning crescent moon. For now, the plan is simple: Wednesday night after midnight, then the Leonids.
The Northern Taurid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 11, into Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, and the sky is cooperating. A waning gibbous moon is on the calendar, but it rises late enough that stargazers get a window of dark skies before it appears.
The Taurids have a particular character. They are slow meteors, and they run colorful, yellowish-orange. They come from debris shed by Comet Encke, and that debris includes noticeably larger fragments than most comets leave behind. According to Space.com, that is why the stream sometimes throws off a few bright fireballs. The typical rate is 5 to 10 meteors an hour, and up to 15 an hour at the peak.
Two Taurid showers are active at once right now. The Southern Taurids peaked Nov. 4-5 but remain active through Nov. 20, so they overlap with this week's Northern Taurid peak. Both streams are named for Taurus the Bull, the constellation they appear to radiate from, near the bright star Aldebaran and the Pleiades, the small, misty, dipper-shaped cluster, as EarthSky describes it. The overlap can roughly double the fireball display in the run-up to the peak.
The Northern Taurids are active from Oct. 20 to Dec. 10. Though the official peak spans Tuesday night, Wednesday night may be the better bet. Space.com notes that about four hours of dark, moonless sky are available, with moonrise coming after midnight in the early hours of Thursday. Until the moon clears the horizon, up to 15 Taurids an hour may appear. Taurus sits low in the east a couple of hours after sundown and is almost directly overhead by about 1:30 a.m.
The advice for watching is simple. Get to a dark, rural spot away from city lights and give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust. Then look anywhere in the sky; the meteors will trace back to Taurus, but they can show up in any direction. The best viewing runs from after midnight until dawn.
The Leonids are already underway, having started Nov. 6 and running through Nov. 30. They are named for Leo, where their meteors seem to originate, and they come from particles shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle as it passes close to the Sun. Those particles are about the size of grains of sand or smaller, according to the Almanac, and Earth crosses the debris field every year. The Leonids are fast, and they typically deliver 10 to 15 meteors an hour or more. They peak on the morning of Nov. 18, and the best viewing is expected on the night of Nov. 17, under a dark sky and a waning crescent moon.
The moon calendar for the coming weeks: last quarter on Nov. 12, new moon on Nov. 20, first quarter on Nov. 28, and a full moon on Dec. 4. That December full moon is a cold supermoon. The winter solstice follows on Sunday, Dec. 21, with about 9 hours and 17 minutes of daylight.
For now, the plan is Wednesday night after midnight, before the moon rises, and then the Leonids on Nov. 17.
Citações Notáveis
Taurids sometimes deliver a few bright fireballs because Comet Encke sheds larger fragments.— Space.com, as cited by Northjersey.com
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