American Meteor Society
During this period the moon reaches its full phase on Tuesday November 12th. At this time the moon will be located opposite the sun and will lie above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon sets just before dawn allowing some observing before dawn to view under dark conditions. The estimated total hourly meteor rates for evening observers this week is near 4 for those viewing from the northern hemisphere and 3 for those located south of the equator. For morning observers the estimated total hourly rates should be near 15 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 9 as seen from tropical southern locations (25S) . The actual rates will also depend on factors such as personal light and motion perception, local weather conditions, alertness and experience in watching meteor activity. Rates are reduced due to moonlight. Note that the hourly rates listed below are estimates as viewed from dark sky sites away from urban light sources. Observers viewing from urban areas will see less activity as only the brightest meteors will be visible from such locations.
The radiant (the area of the sky where meteors appear to shoot from) positions and rates listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning November 9/10. These positions do not change greatly day to day so the listed coordinates may be used during this entire period. Most star atlases (available at science stores and planetariums) will provide maps with grid lines of the celestial coordinates so that you may find out exactly where these positions are located in the sky. A planisphere or computer planetarium program is also useful in showing the sky at any time of night on any date of the year. Activity from each radiant is best seen when it is positioned highest in the sky, either due north or south along the meridian, depending on your latitude. It must be remembered that meteor activity is rarely seen at the radiant position. Rather they shoot outwards from the radiant so it is best to center your field of view so that the radiant lies at the edge and not the center. Viewing there will allow you to easily trace the path of each meteor back to the radiant (if it is a shower member) or in another direction if it is a sporadic. Meteor activity is not seen from radiants that are located below the horizon. The positions below are listed in a west to east manner in order of right ascension (celestial longitude). The positions listed first are located further west therefore are accessible earlier in the night while those listed further down the list rise later in the night.
Radiant Positions at 19:00 Local Standard Time
Radiant Positions at 00:00 Local Standard Time
Radiant Positions at 05:00 Local Standard Time
These sources of meteoric activity are expected to be active this week.
Details of each source will continue next week when viewing conditions are improved.
| SHOWER | DATE OF MAXIMUM ACTIVITY | CELESTIAL POSITION | ENTRY VELOCITY | CULMINATION | HOURLY RATE | CLASS |
| RA (RA in Deg.) DEC | Km/Sec | Local Standard Time | North-South | |||
| Andromedids (AND) | Nov 06 | 01:47 (026) +30 | 17 | 22:00 | 1 – <1 | IV |
| Northern Taurids (NTA) | Nov 03 | 03:48 (057) +23 | 28 | 00:00 | 3 – 2 | II |
| omicron Eridanids (OER) | Nov 05 | 03:58 (060) -00 | 29 | 00:00 | <1 – <1 | IV |
| Southern Taurids (STA) | Oct 10 | 03:59 (060) +16 | 27 | 00:00 | 1 – 1 | II |
| chi Taurids (CTA) | Nov 03 | 04:42 (071) +28 | 41 | 01:00 | <1 – <1 | IV |
| November Orionids (NOO) | Nov 29 | 04:47 (072) +16 | 43 | 01:00 | <1 – <1 | IV |
| Orionids (ORI) | Oct 22 | 07:42 (116) +15 | 67 | 04:00 | 2 – 1 | I |
| nu Eridanids (NUE) | Sep 24 | 08:07 (122) +15 | 67 | 05:00 | <1 – <1 | IV |
| rho Puppids (RPU) | Nov 15 | 08:29 (127) -25 | 62 | 05:00 | 1 – <1 | IV |
| Leonids (LEO) | Nov 18 | 09:48 (147) +24 | 70 | 06:00 | 2 – 1 | I |
| kappa Ursae Majorids (KUM) | Nov 08 | 09:58 (150) +46 | 66 | 06:00 | <1 – <1 | IV |
Was great to see the beautiful picture you captured it made me homesick my daughter and I moved from Albany, MO. a few years ago. We currently live in Dallas, TX. a great city with many opportunities and dazzling city lights. With all the stunning views of the amazing city its a difficult place to see all the celestial wonders of the night sky. Thank you for giving us the gift of the stars from home.
St. Louis Missouri possible fireball. Several photos and videos. November 11, 2019. I tried to report it but kept saying google couldn’t get the location I used. Still waiting on “official” confirmation of course, but it’s clearly something. Bright blue glow, turned orange, loud boom and shook windows.
Saw a very bright and low looking meteor last night (11/11/19). Let the dogs outside (around 11 pm?) and it looked like a firework streaking east to Northwest and burnt out above my neighbors tree. I thought it was a firework but no noise and dogs didn’t alert it to it. It must have been a lot higher in altitude than it looked but it was really big & bright. From my viewpoint it was bright over my backyard and burnt out over my neighbor’s backyard. I have never seen something that looked like it was that close to the ground. I would guess that was an optical illusion.
Thanks for sharing Denise! I was wondering if you happen to know what time it was when you saw this meteor and also curious as to where you live, not your address lol, but which State or area, like the upper midwest or New England, etc , would be nice to know. Thank you! Kim 🙂
Oops sorry Denise, I now see you did share approximate time, no idea why I didn’t see that at first. I was very curious about it because I was sitting out in my car watching for any that very cold night here in Wisconsin, because 11/11 is my birthday. It’s so cool that you think it was around 11pm that you saw that too! I unfortunately didn’t see any, probably because of light pollution and the Moon being so bright and beautiful that night, though I did take it a little personal. 😉