November Nights Are Dazzling With These 3 Meteor Showers. How to Watch Like a Pro
Skygazers, get ready for active night skies this week and next. Following the super moon last week we also had three annual meteor showers right now: the Northern Taurids, which peak Tuesday evening; the Southern Taurids, which have already reached their peak but continue until November; and the Leonids, which peak early next week.
Although these showers aren’t as prolific as the larger ones, including August’s Perseids and January’s Quadrantids, you can still marvel at the meteors with a little luck and some tips we’ll provide.
Not everyone understands what a meteor shower actually is, but it’s pretty simple. Shooting stars are common in space around planet Earth. According to NASA, 48.5 tons of meteorite material hits the Earth’s atmosphere each year. Sometimes enough of this material comes from the same place, and we humans call them meteor showers.
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The Southern Taurids and Northern Taurids originate from the constellation Taurus.
Southern Taurides: in progress
The Southern Taurid shower, one of the longest meteor showers of the yearlasts two months.
The Southern Taurids peaked on the evening of November 4, spawning more than five meteors per hour during this peak, but are expected to persist this week and next week. The Southern Taurids are known for their increased risk of fireballs, which are meteors brighter than most. According to some reports, these fireballs may be brighter than the planet Venus as they pass through the night sky.
All meteor showers are named after the constellations they appear to originate from, a location known as the radiant. For the Southern Taurids, the radiant is in the constellation Taurus, near the Pleiades star cluster, so that’s where you’ll need to look for them. Taurus will be visible in the eastern sky shortly after sunset and will end its evening in the western sky at sunrise.
Northern Taurides: peaks on November 11 and 12
The Northern Taurids meteor shower is expected to peak over the next few days, Tuesday and Wednesday. This is identical to the Southern Taurides, only with a later peak date. The point of origin will be the constellation Taurus, producing an average of five meteors per hour with an increased risk of fireballs.
The Leonid meteor shower will appear from the constellation Leo.
The Leonids: peaks on November 16 and 17
Of the three November meteor showers, the Leonids are expected to be the most active. It is powered by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which can produce dense debris clouds, leading to very heavy downpours. The Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak this weekend, November 16-17.
Some sources claim that it is possible to observe up to 15 visible meteors per hour, while NASA estimates that three meteors per hour is more conservative under dark skies. It is impossible to know for sure how active this shower will be until the peak occurs.
As their name suggests, the Leonids will appear outside the constellation Leo. Leo is visible in the eastern sky between midnight and 1 a.m. local time.
According to the American Meteor Society, the Leonids produced intense meteor showers as recently as 2002, but this is not expected to happen again until 2031, 2064 and 2099, when the comet returns to the solar system. During these rare meteor storms, NASA says it is possible to see more than 1,000 meteors per hour.
The Taurids and Leonids will likely show one meteor at a time, so keep your eyes peeled.
Tips for Watching Meteor Showers
Here are some tips and tricks that will help increase your chances of spotting a meteor in November.
Stay away from light pollution
This is the most important guideline to follow. Simply put, city lights make meteors harder to see.
“Light pollution will definitely hamper your meteor viewing,” Michelle Nichols, director of public viewing at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, told CNET. “The more light pollution you experience, the fewer meteors you will see.”
Nichols says unfavorable conditions can reduce the number of meteors you see by up to 75%.
Go to the countryside and find a place that is as dark as possible. (There are other sources of light pollution that humans can’t do anything about, like the moon.)
The Southern Taurids peaked during November’s full moon, which is also a supermoon, meaning they share the maximum amount of light pollution you can receive from the moon. If you want to avoid any of these downpours, the Southern Taurides are probably the best choice. The other two showers will have much more favorable celestial conditions.
Do not take any equipment
Meteor showers usually have a point of origin, but you won’t need binoculars or telescopes.
“You just want to use your eyes,” Nichols said. “Binoculars or telescopes both look at smaller and smaller pieces of sky, and you want to be able to look at the whole sky around you.”
Meteors are very fast and a magnifying device may hinder your ability to see all the way. Nichols says the Taurid meteors tend to travel at a speed of 17 to 18 miles per second, while the Orionids can travel as fast as 41 miles per second.
Also, meteors don’t last long.
“Look for fast, short-lived streaks of light,” says Nichols. “Meteors tend to last a fraction of a second, or even a few seconds for those with a longer lifespan.”
Nichols also notes that much of the material falling to the Earth’s surface is “only the size of a grain of sand.” As such, the trail that humans often see is not the meteor itself, but rather “the bright, superheated air surrounding this piece of comet material” as it plunges toward Earth.
Dress for the occasion
Unless you live in the Deep South, it will probably be cold outside in November. Dressing for the occasion means you’ll be able to stay out longer, even if it’s cold.
“When you go out, dress warmly in layers, even if it’s not very cold where you are,” says Nichols. “You’ll be outside for a while and at night you could easily get cold, especially if it’s humid.”
Nichols recommends bringing an extra chair to put your feet on to keep them off the cold floor, especially if it’s wet, and also advises against drinking alcohol, which causes blood vessels to dilate, leading to faster heat loss from the body.
Patience is a virtue
The phrase “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” is about as apt as it gets for meteor viewing. Showers are unpredictable and every number you’ve seen in this article or elsewhere online is essentially an estimate. You’ll want to make sure you give yourself as much time as possible to settle in.
“Give your eyes at least 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the dark,” advises Nichols. “You may not see meteors right away. And when you do, they will be sporadic.”
If it were easy to spot meteors, it wouldn’t be special. You can help yourself by reducing the brightness of your phone screen to the lowest level to preserve your night vision and using flashlights, not large camping lanterns.
