Look for Taurid Fireballs in the Dim Moonlight Before Dawn on November 6 and 13

What kind of meteor shower are the Taurids?

The Taurids split into a South branch and a North branch, and the institute's table lists a separate peak for each. NASA's comet page names comet Encke (2P/Encke) as the parent of the stream. Encke takes 3.30 years to orbit the Sun once.

What stands out about this shower is its fireballs. NASA describes a fireball as a meteor as bright as Venus or brighter, and says the shower often produces them around Halloween, which is why they are sometimes called the Halloween fireballs. They come from larger bits of cometary material, so they last longer than ordinary meteors and can show color.

When do they peak?

The sources use different criteria, so the peak dates differ by about a day.

Checked on October 23, 2026. The American Meteor Society also lists activity periods: the South branch from September 20 to November 20, the North branch from October 20 to December 10. It says fireball counts can climb in late October and early November, when both branches are active together.

When is the sky free of moonlight?

Fireballs are bright enough to show through moonlight, but faint meteors get washed out. Choosing moon-free hours lets you catch more. All times are Korean time from the institute's monthly table.

Checked on October 23, 2026, from the institute's monthly astronomical events table. Times can vary by location.

Avoid the nights around the October 26 full Moon, when the Moon stays up all night. On October 31 and the first days of November the Moon rises late, so you can go out early in the evening.

How many will I see?

The institute lists a ZHR of 10 for the South branch and 15 for the North branch. It explains that ZHR assumes the radiant is overhead on a clear night when stars down to magnitude 6.5 are visible, so what you actually see is lower.

NASA's 2011 guide gives about 5 per hour for the Taurids, a low rate with the occasional bright fireball. It says the shower has many fireballs because it carries more large particles than a typical shower. Plan to spend a long time looking up rather than expect several in an hour.

How do I find a fireball?

Don't stare at one spot near Taurus. Take in as much of the sky as you can. A fireball is gone after one pass, so the longer you keep your eyes on the sky, the better. Dark adaptation and a reclined posture are covered in how to watch a meteor shower with the naked eye.

1. Pick moon-free hours from the table above.
2. Go to an open spot where street lamps are not shining straight into your eyes.
3. Lower your phone's screen brightness and do not count meteors for the first few minutes.
4. Keep watching the sky for an hour or two on either side of the peak time.

November mornings are cold. Bring a coat and a thermos, and watch your footing and car headlights on dark roads.

What if the weather is bad?

The shower runs for a long time, so you can pick another night if the peak dawn is cloudy. The South branch is active until November 20 and the North branch until December 10. Around the November 24 full Moon at 23:53, though, the Moon stays bright all night and meteors are hard to see.

Before you leave, check the Korea Meteorological Administration's cloud forecast and that night's moonrise in the institute's table. The full schedule of peaks is gathered date by date in the November 2026 night sky calendar.