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evening hours and reaches its highest point in the southern sky after midnight. As a rule of thumb, the higher that Taurus appears in your sky, the more Taurid meteors that are likely to fly. Taurus itself is full of interesting things to see such as the Pleiades star cluster, the V-shaped Hyades cluster with bright Aldebaran in its midst, and, in 2012, the planet Jupiter. Our chart at the top of today's post shows a few prominent objects in Taurus.
• You can start watching the South Taurids at mid-evening, or before the waning gibbous moon rises over your eastern horizon. This evening, at 8 to 9 p.m., look for blazing planet Jupiter low in the east. It shines right in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. The bright ruddy star Aldebaran depicts the Bull's glaring eye. Note that Aldebaran sits atop a V-shaped group of stars that outlines the Bull's face. And the star Elnath, Taurus' second-brightest star, marks the tip of the Bull's northern horn.
• You don't need to find Taurus to watch the Taurid shower, for these meteors streak all over the sky.
• Bottom line: Watch the South Taurid meteor shower show its stuff this weekend. Because the Taurids are known for putting out bright fireballs, you still might see a few Taurid meteors on these moonlit nights.