Northern Taurid Fireballs Peak on November 11–12 Under a Thin Crescent Moon

November's fireball season reaches its second act tomorrow night. The Northern Taurid meteor shower peaks on the night of Wednesday, November 11 into the morning of Thursday, November 12, according to the American Meteor Society's 2026–2027 meteor shower calendar — a week after the Southern Taurids topped out on November 4–5, the peak WorldEye covered last week.

Nobody should expect a storm. The Northern Taurids produce only a handful of meteors — about five per hour under ideal conditions, National Geographic reports. What they offer instead is quality: the Taurid stream carries an unusually high proportion of larger, pebble-sized particles, and those bigger fragments are the ones that blaze up as fireballs, meteors brighter than Venus.

The timing this year is kind. Both Taurid showers peak near the new Moon of November 9, so moonlight will not be much of a problem, and the American Meteor Society lists a thin waxing crescent for the Northern peak — what the Columbus Times, working from the society's calendar, calls very favourable viewing conditions. The week around the new Moon, roughly November 7 to 11, is the darkest stretch of the month, and the Northern Taurid peak lands right at the end of it.

The peak night is Wednesday, November 11 into Thursday morning, November 12. The Northern Taurids are the later of the two related Taurid showers: the combined Taurids run from September 20 through December 10, with the Southern branch peaking on November 4–5 and the Northern branch following on November 11–12.

There is no sharp, single hour to aim for. Taurid rates ramble across the surrounding nights rather than switching on and off, so a clear night on November 10 or November 13 is still worth an hour outside — but November 11–12 is the night the calendars mark as the maximum.

A fireball is a meteor that shines brighter than Venus, and the Taurids produce more of them than their low hourly rate would suggest. The stream is notable for carrying a high proportion of larger, pebble-sized debris, and Taurid meteors are also relatively slow — entering the atmosphere at about 17 to 18 miles per second — so their streaks can last longer than those of faster showers.

Both Taurid showers appear to radiate from the constellation Taurus and are commonly linked to comet 2P/Encke as their source, though the northern component may instead originate with an asteroid on a very similar orbit, 2004 TG10 — the two bodies' orbits are so alike that they may be fragments of a larger object that broke apart long ago.

In some years Earth passes through denser pockets of Taurid debris held in swarms by Jupiter's gravity, and fireball activity jumps. National Geographic reports that no swarm is expected in 2026 — Earth moved through one last year, and the next predicted encounter is in 2032 — but fireballs remain possible on any Taurid night, swarm year or not.

The technique is the same as for the Southern peak: no telescope and no binoculars — their narrow fields of view make it easier to miss meteors elsewhere in the sky. Find a dark place with a broad view, give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, and look up after midnight, when Taurus has climbed higher; the constellation rises in the east during the evening and stands highest overnight.

The Taurids are visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, because their radiant sits fairly close to the celestial equator, and meteors can appear anywhere in the sky — their paths simply trace back toward Taurus. Dress for a November night, settle in for at least an hour, and be patient: at five meteors an hour, the wait between ordinary Taurids can be long, and one bright fireball is what makes it worthwhile.

After the Northern Taurids, November still has its headline shower to come: the Leonids, active through the month and peaking around November 16–18, with the American Meteor Society listing the peak window as November 16–17. To scout a dark observing spot — or to watch the night sky from somewhere clearer — WorldEye's dark-sky cameras and aurora webcams show live night skies from dark locations around the globe of 74,229 cameras.