While October was touted as the month for some of the most impressive celestial events, November isn’t without any shows for the Astro-enthusiasts. The Taurid meteor shower will grace the night skies of November 2020. This annual meteor show is actually two events that unfold simultaneously. The Southern Taurids occur around September, with brilliant shooting stars, and last till November. The Northern Taurids begin toward the end of October, with light shows extending till early December.
Both of these cycles appear around the constellation of Taurus, the Bull. Hence, their name- Taurids. Often experts consider them to be one very prolonged event instead of two separate things. The Royal Observatory Greenwich in London says the Taurids are a relatively slow-paced meteor shower with a speed of 65,000mph across the skies.
The peak of Southern Taurids was observed on October 10 where around 5 meteors per hour were fired. While the peak of Northern Taurids will occur next week. The Southern Taurids are often linked with the debris that a comet called Encke leaves behind. On the other hand, Northern Taurid is a bit harder to pinpoint. Most astronomers link them to not only Encke but also an asteroid named Asteroid 2004 TG10.
In any case of origin, the Northern Taurids will seemingly crash into Earth’s atmosphere from the Taurus Constellation. Around this time of the year, Taurus bull rises in the Eastern skies.
On the night of November 10 to 11, the peak shower can be observed, according to The Royal Observatory. The best viewing hours are reported to be early morning (sometime after midnight) in the Northern Hemisphere. Though, they aren’t the most active showers and only about 5 meteors per hour are expected. In addition, the moon will be very bright on those nights, which will make the light show slightly less catchy. However, Earthsky reports that some Taurids may be able to overcome the glaring moonlight.
The Taurids will be followed by the Geminids – the most abundantly visible meteor shower this year. The Geminids will occur between December 4 and 17. Their peak will be on December 13 and 14. “The shower has been known produce over 100 meteors per hour at its peak, although light pollution and other factors mean that in reality, the actual number visible is far less,” Royal Observatory spoke to Express.