Tonight marks the start of the Taurid meteor shower, one of the longest meteor showers of 2023. Although it’s not the most active of showers, it’s still worth watching as it produces bright, long-lasting meteors known as 'fireballs'.
Taurid meteors come from two comet streams: the Southern Taurids, and the Northern Taurids. The first stream – the Southern Taurids – begins this weekend, and we also have the added bonus of seeing increasing numbers of sporadic meteors too, as we head into the autumn.
But why are there two streams to the Taurid meteor shower? When does it peak? And will you really be able to see a fireball?
Why not cool off and make the most of the longer nights, by learning to spot some of the most iconic constellations with our astronomy for beginners' guide? Or, brush up on your lunar photography with Pete Lawrence's expert guide on how to take great pictures of the Moon. And for a full roundup of this year's meteor showers, we’ve got all the key dates listed in our meteor shower calendar.
When is the Taurid meteor shower in 2023?
The Southern Taurid meteor shower begins on Sunday 10 September, peaking 10-11 October and continuing until 20 November 2023.
The Northern Taurid meteor shower will begin on 20 October 2023, peaking 12-13 November, and continuing until 10 December.
Where to look
Both the Southern and Northern Taurids appear to radiate from the constellation Taurus the Bull. The Southern Taurids radiate from slightly lower down, near to the southern border and are most active around the middle of October, while the Northern Taurids radiate from a point in Taurus further to the north, and are most active in November.
Taurus is located just above Orion, which has recently returned to our skies after its summer slumber.
If you're struggling to find this point in the night sky, using an app may help (check our best astronomy apps to get started).
Although the radiant is where the shooting stars appear to originate, they may be seen streaking across the sky from other directions. Try to take in as much of the sky in your vision as possible, and you might have a shot at catching one of these late-summer rarities.
When is the best time to see the meteor shower?
The best time to go Taurid hunting is when Taurus is high in the sky, after midnight when the sky is dark (and cloud-free). The meteors are faint, so the days around a new Moon are better than when that pesky light drowns out the already faint meteors.
However, as it’s a sparse shower, it’s a good idea to go outside with some other targets in mind (Jupiter is a good target as we head towards opposition in November).
Taurid meteors are visible any time that Taurus is above the horizon during September, October and November. At the moment (10 September), Taurus starts to peep over the horizon around 10pm, with the cutie-pie that is the Pleiades leading the way. It's fully risen by midnight, although the binary star Zeta Tauri (making up the tip of the bull's horns) will still be low on the horizon at this point.
Activity for the southern stream peaks around 10-11 October, just before the new Moon, so conditions this year are favourable.
How many meteors will I be able to see?
The maximum rate for the Southern Taurid meteor shower is just 5 or 6 meteors per hour (realistically, fewer still).
Although the Taurids are slow (travelling at around 27km/s) and bright, they are also relatively sparse – especially when compared to something like the Lyrids in April or Perseids in August.
Will I be able to see a fireball?
Rather excitingly, the Taurids do, however, have the potential for fireballs. Most meteors are caused by dust, or other small particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere, whereas fireballs are caused by larger pebble-sized fragments.
Although rates for the Southern Taurids are low, the prospect of seeing a fireball is worth a spot of sky-watching – you may even get lucky and capture one on your video doorbell.
And it’s a long shower to boot; we’ve got over two months of opportunity to spot one of its spectacular fireballs from the Southern Taurids – then it’s into the Northern Taurid stream in time for Halloween.
What causes the Taurid meteor shower?
Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a stream of debris left behind by a comet, as it makes its way around the Sun. These meteoroids, the fragments left behind from the comet, interact with our atmosphere and burn up in the process, producing regular meteor showers every time we move through that stream.
In this instance, when you see meteors from the Taurid meteor shower, you’re looking at particles from the Comet Encke (official designation 2P/Encke). Comet Encke is a short-period comet, taking a mere 3.3 years to complete its orbit of the Sun. Its celestial journey is so short, it has the shortest known orbital period of any comet within our Solar System.
In relative terms, Comet Encke is small; about one-third the size of the comet that led to the demise of the dinosaurs. It has a nucleus of around 4.8km in diameter (2.98 miles) and is speculated to have come from a much larger comet, that broke up some 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Why are there two streams in the Taurid meteor shower?
There are two streams associated with the Comet Encke; the Northern Taurids and the Southern Taurids. There is also a third, the Beta Taurids in June and July, although this is a daytime shower better observed by radar and radio-echo techniques than good old-fashioned eyesight.
There are two streams of Taurids because debris from the comet has become so spread out over time – most likely due to interference from Jupiter – that different streams are now distinguishable. It's a wide area of debris, and there are essentially two main cross-sections that intersect with Earth's orbit.
Can you see Comet Encke?
Good news, comet watchers: our short-period friend returns to our skies in a few weeks! However, it will reach around magnitude 7 in brightness (meaning not very bright) as it approaches perihelion (closest approach to the Sun), so you’ll need (decent) binoculars to see it.
The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on 24 September, and reach perihelion on 22 October. It’s coming into visual range around 10 September, and will travel towards the east-southeast through Gemini, Cancer, and Leo before being lost in the dawn light as it approaches the Sun.
Read more: