2018 Northern Taurids Peak Saturday, Nov. 10, to Pre-Dawn, Nov. 11

Summary: The 2018 Northern Taurids peak Saturday, Nov. 10, to pre-dawn Nov. 11, as a long-lasting minor annual shower from October to December.

The Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers appear to radiate outward from Taurus the Bull constellation; Northern Taurids claim an apparent point of origin, known as radiant, near the Bull's Pleiades star cluster: Astronomy Now ‏@AstronomyNow via Twitter Nov. 12, 2015

The American Meteor Society indicates that the 2018 Northern Taurids peak Saturday night, Nov. 10, to pre-dawn Sunday, Nov. 11, as a long-lasting minor shower that annually occurs from mid-late October to early December.

The International Meteor Society (IMS) differs with the American Meteor Society on the 2018 Northern Taurids meteor shower’s peak date. The IMS advances the 2018 peak date forward one day, to Sunday night, Nov. 11, to pre-dawn Monday, Nov. 12.

Both peak dates are ideal in terms of moonlight. The Wednesday, Nov. 7, new moon transitions to the waxing crescent phase by Friday, Nov. 9. The weekend’s waxing crescent moon offers only 9 percent surface visibility of the lunar disk for Saturday, Nov. 10. The waxing crescent only increases to a slivery 15 percent visibility of the lunar disk for Sunday, Nov. 11.

The American Meteor Society gives 2018 activity dates of Friday, Oct. 19, to Monday, Dec. 10, for the long-lasting meteor shower. The International Meteor Society sets the opening date one day later, to Saturday, Oct. 20, but agrees with Dec. 10 as the Northern Taurid meteor shower’s closing date.

The 2018 Northern Taurids contend with moonlit nights in the meteor shower’s opening dates. The Tuesday, Oct. 16, first quarter moon, with 48 percent surface visibility of the lunar disk, increases to the waxing gibbous phase, at 67 percent surface visibility, on Thursday, Oct. 18. Surface visibility expands to 75 percent for Friday, Oct. 19, and 83 percent for Saturday, Oct. 20. Less than a week after the shower’s opening, the moon takes over the nighttime sky Wednesday, Oct. 24, with its full phase.

The final days of the 2018 Northern Taurids enjoy subdued moonlight. The Friday, Dec. 7, new moon grows to the waxing crescent phase’s scantness over the weekend. The waxing crescent Sunday, Dec. 9, achieves only 5 percent surface visibility of the lunar disk. Monday night, Dec. 10, finds the lunar crescent waxing at only 10 percent surface visibility.

The meteor shower’s Taurid name acknowledges apparent point of origin, known as the radiant, in Taurus the Bull constellation. Tracing the sky paths of Northern Taurid shooting stars backward leads to the celestial bull’s constellation. The Northern Taurids claim a radiant in the vicinity of the Pleiades. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades form an open star cluster near the Bull’s border with Aries the Ram. Perseus the Hero constellation lies north of the Pleiades. The Northern Taurids appear as the second of two streams of Taurid meteors. The Northern’s partner stream is known as the Southern Taurids. The two streams’ directional distinctions recognize radiant placements north and south of the ecliptic, the sun’s apparent path across astronomy’s imaginary celestial sphere.

The Northern Taurids overlap with the Southern Taurids. Opening activity for the Southern Taurids precedes the Northern Taurid shower’s annual debut in mid-late October. The Southern Taurids commence annual activity in mid-late September. The southern stream closes its annual display in mid-late November.

The two streams’ October-November overlap sometimes encourages an increase in fireballs. Both streams tend to promise fireballs, which are meteors with magnitudes brighter than minus 4. Fireballs shine brighter than planets or stars.

The American Meteor Society and The International Meteor Society profile the Northern Taurids as a medium-velocity meteor shower. Shower members achieve a velocity of 18 miles per second (30 kilometers per second).

Both societies calculate a zenithal hourly rate of five shower members per hour. Zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) considers optimal radiant and sky conditions for the shower’s observable rate.

Giuseppe Zezioli is credited with discovering the Northern Taurids in the skies over Bergamo, Lombardy region, northwestern Italy. From Nov. 1, to Nov. 7, 1869, he observed 11 meteors appearing to shoot outward from an apparent point of origin in Taurus the Bull constellation.

The Northern Taurids originate from comet 2P/Encke. The shower’s parent body, shared with the Southern Taurids, logs an orbital period of 3.3 years. Encke’s short orbital period falls within the parameters of short-period comets, which have orbital periods of less than 200 years.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Solar System Dynamics website places the Northern Taurid meteor shower’s parent body between Mars and Jupiter during the October 2018 peak. At 23:00 (midnight) Coordinated Universal Time, Sunday, Nov. 11 (7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Saturday, Nov. 10), Encke’s Comet logs an Earth distance of 3.816 astronomical units (au) and a sun distance of 4.096 au.

One astronomical unit roughly represents the distance from Earth to sun. The unit exactly measures 149,597,870,700 meters (about 150 million kilometers; 93 million miles).

The takeaway for the 2018 Northern Taurid meteor shower’s peak Saturday night, Nov. 10, to pre-dawn, Nov. 11, is that the long-lasting shower’s overlap with its partner stream, the Southern Taurids, in October and November sometimes produces increased activity in colorful fireballs.

orbital position of Northern Taurid meteor shower’s parent body, Comet 2P/Encke, at 00:00 (midnight) Coordinated Universal Time, Sunday, Nov. 11 (7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Saturday, Nov. 10), during peak date, Saturday night, Nov. 10, to pre-dawn Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018: JPL’s Solar System Dynamics via NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers appear to radiate outward from Taurus the Bull constellation; Northern Taurids claim an apparent point of origin, known as radiant, near the Bull's Pleiades star cluster: Astronomy Now ‏@AstronomyNow via Twitter Nov. 12, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/AstronomyNow/status/664743001235804160

orbital position of Northern Taurid meteor shower’s parent body, Comet 2P/Encke, at 00:00 (midnight) Coordinated Universal Time, Sunday, Nov. 11 (7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Saturday, Nov. 10), during peak date, Saturday night, Nov. 10, to pre-dawn Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018: JPL’s Solar System Dynamics via NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory @ https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?ID=c00002_0;old=0;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#orb

For further information:

“2P/Encke.” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Dynamics > JPL Small-Body Database Browser.
Available @ https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?ID=c00002_0

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Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar

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Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/

Astronomy Now ‏@AstronomyNow. “Clear skies? Don't miss the Northern #Taurid meteor shower's peak today.” Twitter. Nov. 12, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AstronomyNow/status/664743001235804160

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