November 3, 2025
4 minute read
See the Taurid meteor shower and find out why scientists are watching it closely
Debris from Comet Encke causes two annual meteor showers, but they may also pose a small risk to Earth. Scientists are researching
A meteor from the Southern Taurids meteor shower approaches the northern lights in central New York on September 29, 2025.
Alex Hamer/ZUMA Press Wire via Alamy
Autumn meteor The annual rain responsible for “Halloween fireballs” may pose little threat to Earth. But scientists are keeping the skies under observation. Here's what you need to know.
What is the Taurid meteor shower?
The Taurid meteor shower blooms as Earth passes through the debris left behind by Comet 2P/Encke. Encke has one of the shortest orbital periods of all comets discovered by scientists today, making one revolution around the Sun every 3.3 years. As the object zips around the warmest part of this loop near the Sun, its ice turns to gas, causing the comet to shed dust and other material.
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“I like to think of it as the Pigpen character. [from Peanuts]”It's always followed by dust and stuff,” says Mark Boslow, a physicist at the University of New Mexico. “It leaves a big footprint,” he says of Comet Encke.
And twice a year, the Earth’s orbit takes us along this path: every June the day side of our planet flies to the so-called Beta Taurids, and every October and November the night side flies to the Southern and Northern Taurids.
The Southern Taurids have already begun; this year they will peak around November 5th and continue until around November 12th. Inconveniently for skywatchers, the full moon will also occur on November 5th, and its brightness will potentially outshine the meteors. The Taurids are generally less dazzling than other meteor showers, but are notable primarily for their more numerous fireballs.
If you want to try to catch a Taurid, go to a dark place and get comfortable – experienced sky watchers recommend staying outside for at least 30 minutes to allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and sitting or lying down so you don't have to crane your neck. Next, look for the constellation Taurus, which is where the meteor shower appears to be coming from, giving it its name. But don't look solely at Taurus—nearby constellations may also show meteor activity.
The Northern Taurids meteor shower has also already begun, but will not peak until November 9th and will continue until around December 2nd.
Scientists now believe that the Northern Taurids are not the product of Comet Encke itself, but rather an asteroid called 2004 TG10. Scientists speculate that both the asteroid and the comet, as well as several other asteroids, formed 5,000 or 6,000 years ago when a much larger object fragmented.
The Hidden Threat to Earth?
This hypothetical fragmentation is even more interesting than the twin meteor showers suggest.
Other products of this decay, scientists believe, include a massive object that exploded in the skies over Siberia in June 1908. Tunguska event— a massive airburst that killed three people and likely would have been much more deadly had it occurred somewhere near a denser population.
Tunguska is the event that inspired scientists to create the region planetary protection find and study—and, if necessary, try to deflect—asteroids and comets that may impact Earth. And some of these scientists, including Boslau, are concerned that other debris resulting from this fragmentation thousands of years ago could pose a danger to Earth.
However, this is not exactly the same material that forms the Southern Taurids meteor shower. The Southern Taurids are descended from Comet Encke itself, and some of them may be in a collection of debris called a resonant swarm. Some wonky orbital math suggests that Jupiter's gravitational influence may have condensed the post-breakup debris into such a group.
At the moment, this is just a theory – scientists do not have any observations indicating the existence of such a cloud of debris. The hypothetical swarm has not approached Earth since June 1975, Boslow said, but extensive surveys of near-Earth space designed to detect any potentially threatening objects began only in the 1990s.
In the new study, Boslow and his co-authors estimate that a hypothetical swarm would do the trick. the next particularly close approaches are in November 2032 and June 2036.. If the swarm does exist, it could mark a time when Earth faces a slightly higher risk of impact, scientists warn.
It’s worth repeating: scientists aren’t even sure yet that this swarm of debris existsespecially since it poses a threat to the Earth. Boslow and his colleagues are not trying to panic people, but are simply calling for observations both in those years and in June 2026 and 2029.
By then, scientists may have a brilliant new tool to study the swarm. NASA is currently building a specialized space telescope called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor. The mission is currently scheduled to launch in late 2027. The mission will use infrared light to detect objects that reflect little or no visible light.
“I think it’s unlikely that there will be large objects in this swarm,” Boslow says. “But from a risk assessment perspective, we better check.”
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