Astronomy: The Taurid Meteor shower is going on NOW :-)

The Taurids are an annual meteor shower associated with the comet Encke. They are named after their radiant point in the constellation Taurus, where they are seen to come from in the sky. Because of their occurrence in late October and early November, they are also called Halloween fireballs.

Encke and the Taurids are believed to be remnants of a much larger comet, which has disintegrated over the past 20,000 to 30,000 years, breaking into several pieces and releasing material by normal cometary activity or perhaps occasionally by close encounters with the tidal force of Earth or other planets (Whipple, 1940; Klačka, 1999). In total, this stream of matter is the largest in the inner solar system. Since the meteor stream is rather spread out in space, Earth takes several weeks to pass through it, causing an extended period of meteor activity, compared with the much smaller periods of activity in other showers. The Taurids are also made up of weightier material, pebbles instead of dust grains.

While more meteors are usually seen after midnight, when Earth's facing edge is heading into the meteor streams, Taurids can be seen at any time of night because their radiant is high overhead most of the night.

As you can see in the chart, the South Taurids appear to radiate from a point in southern Taurus, close to Omicron and Xi Tauri. The North Taurids radiate from close to the Pleiades, the brightest star cluster in the night sky. The meteors themselves can be seen anywhere in the sky, and it is only by tracing their motion backwards that you can determine which type of Taurid they are.

As always, if you do go out to look for Taurids, dress warmly, and lie back comfortably on a deck chair or something similar. Have patience, because these meteors are not frequent, but when they come, they are often spectacularly bright, and often leave smoke trails behind them.

(Julie's notes: This is one of the better showers for fireballs, and since it's visible most of the night, it's well worth getting out to a dark place and having a look.  As I live in New Jersey, the potential for me actually seeing anything rests somewhere between slim and none thanks to the usual overcast skies and rain that seem to accompany every known meteor shower, including ones visible only in the southern hemisphere.)



Text courtesy Wikipedia and Space.COM.  Chart by Starry Night software.