Taurids, Leonids, and Geminids, Oh My!

Those of you spending time outside around Midnight these past couple of weeks have been treated to a great display of shooting stars thanks to the Taurid Meteor Shower. You may not have seen that many meteors an hour during the Taurids, but the few you saw likely were real fireballs — often slowly streaking across the sky and staying illuminated for several seconds.

If you missed the Taurids display, don’t dispair! We’ll have at least two or three more good meteor showers between now and the end of the year. Even though conditions will be a bit chilly, the longer periods of darkness will increase your opportunity to see some shooting stars.

The next major meteor shower is the Leonids, which peaks November 17 through 19 as Earth drifts through the debris of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. This comet’s orbit takes it through our inner solar system every 33 years, and it leaves a trail of debris in its wake. The Earth’s orbit passes through this debris field every November, when meteors are seen coming out of the constellation Leo (hence the name, Leonids).

This year, Asia will be treated to the best Leonids display, with as many as 200 to 300 shooting stars an hour over Indonesia and China. The display in North America won’t be nearly as active. Still, we’ll be treated to an estimated 20 to 30 meteors per hour. A new moon during the peak of the Leonids will give us very good observing conditions — assuming clouds don’t get in the way!

It will be pretty easy to find the Leonid shower this year thanks to the planet Mars passing close to the constellation Leo. In fact, Mars is making one of its periodic close approaches to Earth. The Red Planet will appear as a bright reddish spot, much brighter than surrounding stars, and the meteors will appear to be coming out of the planet. The best night for viewing the Leonids is expected to be Thursday, November 17 around 3AM CST. The Leonid Meteor Shower continues through November 28, although the intensity and number of meteors decrease after November 19.

After a brief break, the Geminid Meteor Shower arrives in mid-December. The Geminids occur from December 3-19, and peak December 13 and 14. This is usually a very dependable display, with 60-70 meteors an hour. As the name suggests, the Geminids come out of the constellation Gemini.

The year ends with the Ursid Meteor Shower that peaks December 22 and 23 and occurs from December 16-25.

The bottom line: Temperatures aren’t the only things falling this time of year. Happy viewing!