dpThey don’t produce anything like the torrent of “shooting stars” associated with August’s Perseids or December’s Geminids, but the Taurid meteor showers have something else going for them — fireballs.
The Taurids are famous for occasionally producing exceptionally bright, slow-moving meteors that can streak dramatically across the night sky from September to December. As a bonus, they’re visible from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. That’s because they appear to emanate from the constellation Taurus, which sits close to the ecliptic, the apparent path the sun takes across the sky as Earth orbits around it.
The Taurids are actually two closely related showers — the Southern Taurids and Northern Taurids — whose activity overlaps in late October and November. That’s why they’re known informally by skywatchers as the “Halloween fireballs.” The broad overlapping peaks make the Taurids less about watching on one particular night and more about keeping an eye on the night sky for several weeks. Both have their radiant points — the place in the night sky where their “shooting stars” appear to come from — close to the famous Pleiades (M45) open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus.
There’s another tempting reason to watch the Taurids in 2026 — moonlight will cause little interference around the main peaks.
When are the Southern Taurids?
The Southern Taurids are already underway. According to the American Meteor Society, they’re active from Sept. 20 through Nov. 20, with two distinct components. The annual component peaks around Oct. 14, while a component particularly associated with fireballs peaks overnight on Nov. 4-5. That’s the night to circle if you’re hoping to see one of the “Halloween Fireballs.”
However, don’t expect a conventional meteor storm. The Southern Taurids have an average zenithal hourly rate of about five meteors per hour. ZHR describes how many meteors an observer could theoretically see under ideal conditions with the shower’s radiant directly overhead. In practice, observers see fewer, so this is not a chance to gather friends for a special show, as with the Perseids.
What the Southern Taurids lack in quantity, however, they can make up for in quality. Their meteors strike Earth’s atmosphere at about 17 miles (27 kilometers) per second. That’s relatively slow for a meteor, helping make some Taurids conspicuous as they travel across the sky. You don’t see a Taurid meteor; you watch it.
If clouds allow, conditions should be favorable around Nov. 4-5. The moon will be absent most of the night, rising a couple of hours before dawn as a 17%-illuminated waning crescent — too dim to affect visibility of meteors.
When are the Northern Taurids?
The Northern Taurids begin later, becoming active on Oct. 20 and continuing through Dec. 10, according to the American Meteor Society. They’re expected to peak overnight on Nov. 11-12.
Once again, rates are low — around five meteors per hour under ideal conditions — but fireballs are possible. Northern Taurid meteors enter the atmosphere at around 18 miles (29 km) per second, similarly as slow as their southern counterparts.
Observing conditions at the peak should be excellent. The moon will be a slender 5%-illuminated waxing crescent and will be practically absent from the night sky overnight on Nov. 11-12, leaving the night dark.
The distinction between the two Taurid showers isn’t particularly important if you’re simply outside hoping to see a fireball. In late October and early November, both streams are active at the same time, potentially producing around 10 Taurids per hour under clear, moon-free conditions.
Why are Taurids called the ‘Halloween Fireballs’?
The nickname comes partly from timing. Their maxima are also broad rather than sharp. According to EarthSky, the Taurids tend to “ramble along” over the period, becoming particularly noticeable when the two branches overlap from late October into early November — Halloween.
It’s also a reference to their tendency to produce fireballs, exceptionally bright meteors caused when larger pieces of space debris plunge into Earth’s atmosphere.
Some years are considerably better for Taurid fireballs than others, and it’s impossible to tell for sure in advance. EarthSky notes that enhanced displays occurred in 2008, 2015 and 2022, when Earth encountered concentrations of larger debris within the stream. However, don’t expect a repeat in 2026 — the next predicted Taurid fireball swarm isn’t expected until 2032.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be fireballs this year, only that an unusually high number isn’t predicted.
What causes the Taurid meteor showers?
Both Taurid meteor showers are linked to Comet 2P/Encke, a three-mile-wide (4.8-kilometer) comet that circles the sun every 3.25 years — the shortest known cometary orbit, according to NASA. However, the Taurids belong to a much larger complex of dust, rocks, comets and asteroids, possibly created when a much bigger object fragmented thousands of years ago. Each fall, Earth crosses different parts of this sprawling debris stream, producing the overlapping Northern and Southern Taurids and, occasionally, the larger fragments that create spectacular fireballs.
How to see the Taurid meteor showers
Both showers appear to originate from Taurus, a constellation that rises during the evening and climbs higher into the sky as the night progresses. Around midnight, Taurus is well placed for many observers.
However, there’s no need to find Taurus. Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and staring directly at the radiant can actually mean seeing shorter meteor trails. The best advice is to treat the period as a great time for naked-eye stargazing, with the usual rules applying — find somewhere away from bright lights with as wide a view of the sky as possible, and give your eyes about 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Binoculars and telescopes will restrict your field of view and make meteor watching impossible.
Above all, be patient. The Taurids are a slow burn in every sense — low rates, slow-moving meteors and weeks of activity. But if one of those meteors happens to be a brilliant fireball, it could easily be one of the most memorable “shooting stars” you see all year.
