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2 moments when the Taurid meteor shower peaked in November
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2 moments when the Taurid meteor shower peaked in November

The next meteor shower is expected to peak not once, but twice next month.

The Taurid meteor shower, which has been piercing the night sky since September 10, is expected to reach two peaks in November. Farmer’s Almanac.

But don’t call him twin peaksThe Southern Taurus Mountains are expected to reach their peak on November 5, and the Northern Taurus Mountains are expected to reach their peak on November 12. space.com wrote.

Although the bright point or direction in the night sky from which meteors appear to be coming is the constellation Taurus, Southern and Northern Taurus have two different starting points. The Southern Taurus Mountains are formed from the debris of Comet Encke. EarthSky reported. However, studies are contradictory about where the Northern Taurus Mountains come from.

EarthSky wrote that astronomers believe the Northern Taurids came from an asteroid called 2004 TG10, which is believed to orbit the sun in a pattern similar to Comet Encke. It is also believed that the asteroid was once part of a larger celestial body called the Encke Complex. The popular belief is that a much larger object broke apart 20,000 years ago, forming a comet and a few asteroids.

The complexity of where the Northern Tauruses come from comes down to whether they come from 2004 TG10 or from 10 related asteroids, according to EarthSky.

According to the Almanac, the Taurids are the slowest of the annual meteor showers, traveling at 27 kilometers per second. They appear bright in a wave of color; Predominantly yellow, orange, green, red and blue fireballs have been recorded.

It could be a mixed bag in terms of seeing both Toros teams. The moon is expected to be 15% illuminated during the zenith of the Southern Taurus, but the moon could eclipse the Northern Taurus with 84% illumination, according to Space.com.

EarthSky wrote that the summit of the Southern Taurus Mountains is expected to reach its peak at 3 am on November 5, and the Northern Taurus Mountains are expected to reach its peak at 2 am on November 12. While these are the predicted peak times, astronomers recommend viewing them hours in advance, around 12 a.m.