November is looking like a stellar month for avid stargazers, with this year’s last supermoon, planet sightings and other meteor showers to look forward to. For tonight, look skyward and feast your eyes on the Southern Taurid shower, which is known for its exceptionally big and conveniently slow-moving fireballs. Here’s everything you need to know about this celestial event so you can make the most of its beauty.
Taurid Meteor Shower
As its name suggests, the Taurid meteor shower occurs when the debris that comes from a comet called Encke collides with our atmosphere and burns up under the Taurus constellation. Encke has a long history of making humanity look up in awe, as it’s theorized that it broke off a larger comet around 20,000 years ago and has been shedding its glowing remnants ever since.
Thanks to this, each year, the southern hemisphere is lit up by this fiery phenomenon from September to November, and the brightest fireballs will be visible throughout Australia this week. The Taurids also grace the northern hemisphere’s night skies from October to December.
While there may be fewer meteors than in other showers, the Taurid’s fireballs are generally slower, which means a longer window for you to enjoy the sight or even capture them on camera.
When to see it
Although the shower has been going on for months now, it’s set to reach its peak in the early hours of November 5, around 1am to 3am. Fortunately, this year’s viewing conditions are ideal, as the moon will be a slim crescent and the night sky will be dark, so you may even be able to catch a glimpse of the Taurid meteor shower as early as 9pm on November 4.
Where to see it
Thanks to its slower, blazing fireballs — which are brighter and bigger than the average meteor — the Southern Taurid shower can sometimes be seen even from urban environments.
However, you’ll have an even better, front row seat to nature’s fireworks if you head to a dark, clear location like the Mt Coot-tha Summit Lookout or, if you don’t mind a bit of a longer drive, remote spots like Wild Horse Mountain and Lake Moogerah both present the opportunity for some incredible views. We recommend consulting a light pollution map and you can also find more tips on how to make the most of any meteor shower here.