Skygazers, get ready for an active November. Following Tuesday's supermoon, this month we've also got three annual meteor showers: the Northern Taurids, the Southern Taurids and the Leonids. Northern Taurids started on Oct. 20, and Southern Taurids — one of the longest meteor showers of the year — began on Sept. 20. The Leonids are expected to start Thursday, on Nov. 6.
Even though two of these meteor showers are already in progress, the best parts of each are still to come. And while these showers aren't as prolific as the biggest ones, including August's Perseids and January's Quadrantids, you can still marvel at meteors with a bit of luck and some tips we'll provide.
Not everyone understands what a meteor shower actually is, but it's fairly simple. Shooting stars are a common occurrence in space around planet Earth. According to NASA, 48.5 tons of meteoritic material hit Earth's atmosphere every year. Sometimes, enough of that material comes from the same spot, and we humans refer to those as meteor showers.
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The Southern Taurids and Northern Taurids originate from the Taurus constellation. Stellarium
Southern Taurids: The longest one
The Southern Taurids shower lasts for two months, making it one of the longest meteor showers of the year.
Southern Taurids peaked on the evening of Nov. 4 into Nov. 5, spawning upwards of five meteors per hour during that peak. Southern Taurids is known for its increased chance of fireballs, which are meteors that are brighter than most. According to some reports, these fireballs can be brighter than the planet Venus when they streak across the night sky.
All meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to originate, a spot known as the radiant. For the Southern Taurids, the radiant is in the Taurus constellation near the Pleiades star cluster, so that is where you'll want to look for them. Taurus will be visible in the eastern sky shortly after sunset and end its evening in the western sky as the sun rises.
Northern Taurids: Peaks later than its sibling
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