Taurids or Leonids: Which is Which?

So we are heading into early November and there are two great meteor showers to watch, the Taurids and the Leonids. If you get lucky enough to see one of these shooting stars it is pretty easy to figure out which shower it belongs to.

The Taurids shower that generally runs from mid October all of the way into mid November. These meteors are made of of particles of the comet Encke and can produce dazzling fireballs.

The other shower is more famously known as the Leonids shower, and they generally peak towards the middle of the month. Leonids are made up of particles left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle. Sometimes they can be as bright as the Taurids. About every 33 years, the Leonids showers erupt into a meteor storm during the peak periods. There was a nice run of meteor showers from about 1999 to 2002 associated with the Leonids.

So, if you are out tonight (early November), and you happen to see a meteor or fireball, then it is a pretty good bet that you are seeing meteors associated with the Taurid showers. Taurid meteors are generally yellowish and move slower than meteors from other showers.

A secondary to determine there origin is to look at the path that they take across the sky as they burn out. If you track them from their source in the sky, they will point towards the Taurus constellation. Thus, the aptly name for the showers: Taurids.

At this time of the year the Taurus the Bull is rising in the east as the sun sets. This constellation is almost directly overhead an hour after midnight. If you see a meteor, simply trace its path back towards the constellation it originates from, in this case Taurus the Bull, and you can be rest assured that the meteor belongs to the Taurids group.

By about the middle of the November, the Leonids meteors starting to spin up. As you would guess, the Leonids meteor shower will appear to propagate from the constellation Leo. This constellation rises after midnight for this time of year, so Leonid's will most likely be streaking across the sky from the east.

Moon will be around this year so skies may be a little on the bright side this year. Even with the moon, it will still be worth while to go out and take a look for a little while.