Monday 7th to Sunday 13th October 2024
The night of Wednesday 9th into the early morning of Thursday 10th sees the peak of the Southern Taurids meteor shower. The Taurids is a long-lasting shower that occurs every September to December.
Meteor showers are created when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris that has been left by a comet as it travelled close to the Sun in its orbit and in the case of the Taurids, it is comet Encke. Encke's debris is very spread out and this is why the Earth takes a relatively long time to pass through it.
In fact, it is so widely spread that we see two separate segments of the shower - the Southern Taurids peaking in October and the Northern Taurids peaking in November. Showers are normally named after the constellation in which their radiant point appears to be located, but in the case of the Southern Taurids, the radiant point is to the right of Taurus, more in the constellation of Cetus.
Around 1am on Thursday 10th, Cetus will be found towards the south east and at the same time, you will be able to observe Jupiter and the constellation of Orion rising in the east.
On a completely different topic, if you are interested in the more technical side of telescopes, I am giving a talk at the Crewkerne & District Astronomical Society about the portable equipment I use for star parties and how it has been developed over the years. The date for your diary is Wednesday 16th October 7.30pm at the village hall in Norton sub Hamdon. The Society welcomes non-members and if you would like to attend, please contact their Chairman Terry Evans via the Society's website at www.cadas.net
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2024
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