Taurids 2026: the slow shower that brings fireballs

The Taurids are 2 showers, the Southern Taurids and the Northern Taurids. Both come from Taurus. Both are weak: each gives about 5 meteors an hour at its peak, under a perfect sky.

So why watch? The Taurids are slow, and some of their pieces are big. That makes fireballs, very bright meteors that can light up the ground. Fireballs are rare, but the Taurids bring more of them than most showers.

When to look

• Southern Taurids: the peak is on November 5, at about 19:00 UTC. The Moon is a thin crescent, about 12% lit. It rises late, between about 2:30 am and 4 am. So the evening and the first half of the night are dark.
• Northern Taurids: the peak is on November 12, at about 18:00 UTC. The Moon is a thin crescent again, about 11% lit, and it sets in the early evening. The whole night is dark.

Both showers are active for weeks. The Southern Taurids run from about September 20 to November 20, and the Northern Taurids from about October 20 to December 10. The days near each peak are only a little better than the rest. Any clear, dark night in early November can show a Taurid.

Taurus rises in the evening and is highest at about 1 am. The hours around midnight are the best.

Where to look

The meteors seem to come from Taurus, not far from the Pleiades star cluster. But they cross the whole sky. Look at a wide part of the sky, about halfway up.

On the live sky map: the Southern Taurids and the Northern Taurids, from your place, at the best time to look.

Where to go

A dark sky helps, but fireballs are bright enough to see from a town. For the faint Taurids, find a park in our list of stargazing places. See also the dark places for the Southern Taurids and the Northern Taurids in your country.

How to watch

1. Be patient. With about 5 meteors an hour, you can wait 10 minutes or more for one.
2. Lie back and look at a wide part of the sky.
3. Put your phone away. Your eyes need 20 to 30 minutes in the dark.

Where the Taurids come from

The Taurids come from Comet Encke and from a wide stream of old dust around it. Their pieces hit our air at about 28 to 29 km a second. That is slow for a meteor. The Taurids are the slowest of the well-known yearly showers.