Southern Taurids

When are the Southern Taurids?

The Southern Taurids are active from about 3 Oct to 12 Nov each year and peak around 29 Oct. Up to about 5 meteors an hour at the peak under ideal skies (the zenithal hourly rate). For local times, the Moon and the best hours from your place, open the page for the year.

• Southern Taurids 2026Active 3 Oct – 12 NovPeak ~29 Oct
• Southern Taurids 2027Active 3 Oct – 12 NovPeak ~29 Oct

How to watch

The radiant is up for most of the night and highest around midnight, so you don’t need to wait for dawn. Don’t expect many: a few an hour is typical. Some years bring more bright fireballs than usual.

Get as far from streetlights as you can and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Every glance at a bright phone screen resets that, so keep it away or use a red night mode.

Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as possible, looking about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Meteors can appear anywhere; the ones far from the radiant have longer trails.

You need no equipment. Binoculars and telescopes show only a tiny patch of sky, so they make you miss meteors. Dress warmly, even in summer, and plan to watch for at least an hour: meteors come in clumps and lulls.

Where do they come from?

The Taurids come from Comet 2P/Encke, which has the shortest orbit of any well-known comet (3.3 years), and from the wider debris complex around it. The stream is so spread out that Earth takes weeks to cross it.

Slow, often bright meteors; rates are low but the shower lasts for weeks.