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teor display. Plus the moon is now near the planet Venus in the predawn sky!
• November 2012 guide to the five visible planets
• Look for the moon and Venus in the east before sunrise on November 10 and November 11. Before sunrise on November 12, you'll find the moon below Venus, right next to a fainter planet, Saturn, which will be very low in the east very shortly before sunup.
• No matter where you live worldwide, you're likely to see the most North Taurid meteors in the wee hours - just after midnight - this weekend. This shower is going on now and continuing through the weekend. The peak night will likely be on the night of November 11/12 (late night Sunday/Monday after midnight), though any night this weekend might offer a comparable number of meteors. The North Taurids are generally a very modest shower, offering perhaps 10 meteors per hour on a dark, moonless night - like those this weekend. But even one bright meteor can be a treat, especially since a good percentage of the Taurid meteors tend to produce fireballs!
• The North Taurid meteors derive their name from the constellation Taurus the Bull. If you trace the paths of the Taurid meteors backward, you'll see they appear to radiate from near the famous Pleiades star cluster of this constellation on their peak nights. You don't have to find Taurus, though, to watch the North Taurid meteors. These slow-moving meteors can light up any part of the starry heavens, streaking (Continued on page 19)
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