A Meteor Shower and a Lunar Eclipse
 | Author:
Jeff Ross
Contributor |
A Meteor Shower and a Lunar Eclipse
Jeff
The Taurids Meteor Shower peaks on Saturday, November 5. It has the potential to be a dandy display this year. The Taurids are associated with Comet Enke. Both Enke and the Taurids are believed to be the remnants of a much larger comet that broke up 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. The Taurids appear to radiate from the constellation Taurus, the Bull. Taurus stands between the Pleiades and Orion and rises in the East just about sunset. I think it looks like a lazy V with bright Aldebaran representing the bull's eye at the end of one leg.
The Taurids are a long-duration meteor shower beginning at the end of October and lasting until November 10 or so. They are much slower than the usual meteors we see, and are more likely to be pebble sized than normal dust particles. Combine the slow speed with pebble-sized particles and we are more likely to see long, extremely bright meteors streak across the night sky. Meteors this size also tend to blow up more often upon entry into our atmosphere. Those are called bolides and can be bright enough to ruin that hard-won night vision. The Taurids have a 7-year cycle where the number of meteors per minute goes from an average of 5 to double or even triple that. The last "swarm" year was 2015 so it's possible that 2022 could yield another swarm.
What would normally be a downside to this year's peak Taurids is that our big, lovely Moon will be just 2 days away from Full and that would mean that the Taurids would be washed out just as the Perseids were earlier this year. However, this Full Moon will be in a total lunar eclipse for everyone in the Western US, beginning November 8 at about 1 am, reaching totality just before 4 am and exiting our Earth's shadow at just before 7 am. A total lunar eclipse occurring 2 days after the Taurid's peak should let them shine in all their glory and we get to enjoy the Blood Moon eclipsed at the same time!
With clear skies, of course.
