THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
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Founded January 1970
Julian Date: 2458795.16
2019-2020:  LI
             "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."
                            -Shakespeare


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Tail End of the Taurids

[image: Taurids_November_2015_620x400.png]

Well, yes, the Leonids garner most of the attention as that famous meteor
shower has produced meteor storms in the past that have inflamed the entire
sky.  However, the lesser known Taurid meteor shower has much to recommend
it. Not least of its interesting features is its duplicity: the Taurids
consist of a northern and southern shower, aptly named the Northern Taurids
and the Southern Taurids, respectively.   These showers are actually
separate, as they have different parent bodies.   Comet Encke is the
progenitor of the Northern Taurids, while the asteroid 2004 TG10
spawns the Southern Taurids.    By this statement, we mean that the
meteoroids responsible for the Northern Taurid meteors are fragments cast
off by Comet Encke and those of the Southern Taurids flaked off the
asteroid.      As the meteoroids descend through the upper atmosphere, they
excite nearby atoms, causing their electrons to elevate into higher energy
orbits.   The meteors we observe are the photons emitted by these electrons
when they return to their original energy states.

Their names are similar because the constellation Taurus encloses their
radiants, the apparent convergence points for the meteors.  The above image
shows the approximate location of these radiants.

The apparent emanation of these meteors from Taurus is illusory:  the
meteoroids are generally moving along paths parallel to Earth's surface.    The
Southern Taurid shower begins around September 10th, ends on November 20th
and peaks on October 10th.The Northern Taurid shower starts on October
20th, ends on December 10th and peaks on November 12th. The peaks of both
showers aren't generally spectacular.   The Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) for
both is 5 - 6.  The ZHR refers to the number of meteors a seasoned observer
would see where he/she in a completely dark sky and if the radiant were at
the zenith, the point directly overhead.

 This rate is comparable to the rate of sporadic meteors we would see per
hour, anyway.  Sporadic meteors are those that are not associated with any
specific shower.  Now that the peak dates have passed for both, we can
expect to see even fewer.  However, both showers are still active, the
Northern Taurids more so than its southern counterpart.      As is the case
with meteor showers, observers are advised to seek them out after midnight
when the radiants are higher in the east and our part of the planet will be
turning into the meteor stream.


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