The Northern Taurid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend, giving skywatchers the chance to catch some bright fireballs if they’re lucky. The peak of the Northern Taurid meteor shower falls on the night of November 11, with its best manifestations occurring in the hours after midnight. Given the clear skies, this weekend should be particularly ideal for observing the Taurus as the moon approaches its completely dark new moon phase on Monday, November 13.

For your best chance of catching a meteor hurtling across the sky, look for the famous “Seven Sisters” of the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation Taurus. The Northern Taurid Radiant (the point from which meteors radiate) is just below the Pleiades and above the “head” of Taurus.

If you’re not familiar with the Pleiades, you’ll first notice the bright, pale yellow Jupiter shining high in the east. From there, look to the lower left to find a dense cluster of six or seven stars. A little below, on the side, there will be a V-shaped group of stars opening to the left; these are the horns of the bull of the constellation Taurus.

To increase your chances of seeing the Taurid meteor, find a dark viewing area as free from light pollution as possible. Sit in a comfortable chair, settle into the cool autumn evening, and look up at the sky toward Taurus or the Pleiades, giving your eyes at least half an hour to adjust. At their most active, Taurids should produce about five meteors per hour.

The Taurids are generally known as one of the slowest meteor showers, but they are also known to exhibit larger numbers of “fireballs” or abnormally bright meteors. “Taurids are rich in fireballs, so if you see a Taurid, it can be very bright and make your eyes pop out, but their speed is definitely bad,” NASA meteor expert Bill Cook told Space.com. “When tauride shows up, it’s usually big and bright.”

The Taurid meteor shower occurs when the remnants of periodic comet 2P/Enke burn up in our planet’s atmosphere. This comet has the shortest rotation period of all known comets – only 3.3 years.

Comet 2P/Encke was discovered in 1786 by French astronomers Pierre Mechen and Charles Messier, but was named after German astronomer Johann Franz Encke, who first predicted the comet’s return after concluding that many comet observations in previous years were identical. same object. While watching the Taurus constellation, you can also closely examine the Pleiades constellation and the stars of the Taurus constellation by choosing the right equipment with our best telescope and best binocular guides.