Taurid meteor shower 2022: When, where & how to see it
The Taurids meteor shower consists of two streams: the southern Taurids, which peak between November 4 and 5; and the Northern Taurids, which peak between November 12th and 13th.
These showers produce rare, slow, and long-lasting meteors associated with Comet Encke, a small comet with a nucleus about 3 miles across.
2022 could be a particularly good year for Taurian fireballs like the American Meteorological Society (opens in new tab) indicates a notable increase in fireball activity every seven years. As 2015 produced incredible Taurid fireballs, 2022 could be next. Keep your eyes peeled!
Related: Meteor Shower Guide 2022: Dates and Sightseeing Tips
Daisy Dobrijevic
Daisy joined Space.com in February 2022. Prior to that, she worked as a staff writer for our sister publication, All About Space. Daisy has written numerous articles and guides for notable skygazing events, including the Perseid Meteor Shower, the Next Solar Eclipse, and the Next Lunar Eclipse.
“The Taurids are rich in fireballs, so when you see a Taurid it can be very brilliant and can kill your eyes, but their rates are absolutely crappy,” NASA meteorologist Bill Cooke told Space.com. “It’s just the fact that a Taurid is usually big and bright when it shows up.” Typically, the Taurids only produce a handful of visible meteors per hour.
Since the Taurids occur in late October, they are sometimes referred to as “Halloween Fireballs”.
Taurian meteors tend to be larger than other meteors and can survive longer when traversing Earth’s atmosphere. According to NASA (opens in new tab), Orionids, for example, typically burn at altitudes of about 58 miles (93 km), while Taurids typically make it up to 42 miles (66 km). They also move relatively slowly, traversing the sky at about 17 miles (27 kilometers) per second, or 65,000 miles (104,000 km) per hour. The Perseidson the other hand, they zoom through the sky at 37 miles (59 km) per second.
Where can you see the Taurid meteor shower?
Position in the constellation Taurus:
Right Ascension: 4 hours
Declination: 15 degrees
Visible between: Latitudes 90 degrees and minus 65 degrees
The Taurids are visible from practically everywhere Earth, except for the South Pole. Meteor showers are named for the constellation from which the meteors appear to emanate, known as the radiant. From Earth’s perspective, the Taurid meteor shower appears to be coming from about the direction of bull Constellation.
To find the bull, look for that Orion constellation and then face northeast to find the red star Aldebaran, the star in the bull’s eye.
Don’t look directly at the bull to find meteors; the shooting stars will be visible all over the night sky. Be sure to move your gaze nearby constellations. Meteors closer to the radiant have shorter trails and are more difficult to spot. If you only look at the bull, you might miss the shooting stars with the most spectacular trails.
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To best see the Taurids meteor shower, go to a place that is as dark as possible, sit back and relax. You don’t need any equipment like telescopes or binoculars as the secret is to capture as much of the sky as possible and give your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
If you want more advice on photographing the Taurids, check out our guide to photographing meteors and meteor showers, and if you need imaging gear, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
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When is the best time to see the Taurid Meteor Shower?
The best time to see the Taurid meteor shower — both the North and South Streams — is around midnight, when the shower’s radiant, the constellation Taurus, is high in the sky.
The southern Taurids are active from around September 10 to November 20, peaking around November 4 and 5, while the northern Taurids are active between October 20 and December 10, peaking around November 12 .and reach 13 November.
This year, late October could be the best time to see the Taurid meteor shower, when the northern and southern showers overlap. That new moon October 25th will feature dark skies perfect for meteorite hunting. To calculate sunrise and moonrise times in your location, see this custom Sunrise Sunset Calculator (opens in new tab).
What Causes the Taurid Meteor Shower?
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The Tauride meteor shower is caused by the debris – ice and dust – from Comet 2P/Encke as it passes our solar system.
The Encke debris flow is so large and extensive that it takes Earth quite a long time to traverse all of the debris, which is why we experience two separate segments of the shower – the Northern Taurids and the Southern Taurids, respectively Royal Museums Greenwich (opens in new tab) (RMG).
Comet Encke was discovered on January 17, 1786, according to French astronomer Pierre FA Mechain NASA Science (opens in new tab). Usually, comets are named after their discoverers or the observatory or telescope involved in the discovery. However, Comet Encke was named after the German astronomer Johann Franz Encke, who was responsible for calculating the comet’s orbit.
Encke has the shortest orbital period of any known comet in our solar system, taking just 3.3 years to complete one orbit The sun.
Comet Encke always returns to the interior solar system, its core hurls ice and rock into space in a mighty debris stream. As Earth passes through the debris, the “comet crumbs” heat up as they enter earth atmosphere and burn up in bright flashes of light that trace a living path across the sky.
Comet Encke and the Taurid meteor shower are believed to be remnants of a much larger comet that broke apart in the last 20,000 to 30,000 years, according to RMG.
Additional information
Learn more about the French astronomer Pierre FA Mechain with this biography from the University of St Andrews (opens in new tab). Learn more about Taurid fireball activity since 1962 comprehensive review of the Taurids (opens in new tab). Explore the Taurus constellation and find out how to see it with the naked eye on the Skywatching website In-The-Sky.org (opens in new tab).
bibliography
NASA. 2P/Encke. NASA. Retrieved October 5, 2022 from https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/2p-encke/in-depth/
NASA. Taurid Meteor – watch the sky. NASA. Retrieved October 5, 2022 from https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/tag/taurid-meteor/
Tauride Meteor Shower 2022: When and Where to See in the UK. Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 5 October 2022 from https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/taurid-meteor-shower-2022-when-where-see-it-uk