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through a wide variety of constellations. So just lie back comfortably and gaze in all parts of the sky, while waiting for the Taurid meteors.
• Easily locate stars and constellations during any day and time with EarthSky's Planisphere.
• This constellation is fairly easy to find in 2012 because the dazzling planet Jupiter shines in front of Taurus this year. You can't miss Jupiter lighting up the eastern sky at early to mid-evening, Next year at this time, Jupiter will be in the constellation Gemini, the radiant point for the December Geminid shower.
• A dark, moonless night also highlights the Bull - the radiant point for the North Taurid meteors - in all his starlit majesty. Taurus contains many noticeable stars - plus two star clusters - and is pretty easy to spot. The Bull appears over the eastern horizon by around 8 p.m. The Bull's face consists of a V-shaped star cluster called the Hyades cluster. The Bull's fiery red eye - the star Aldebaran - is not part of the Hyades. This ruddy star lies in the same direction, though at only about half the distance to the Hyades cluster. The star Elnath marks the tip of the Bull's northern horn. And the Pleiades star cluster marks the Bull's shoulder.
• The Bull climbs upward throughout the evening hours, to soar to his highest point for the night around 1 a.m. That's why the meteors are best around then. Meteor showers are often best when their radiant point is highest in the sky.
• Taurus descends westward throughout the morning hours, and is found over the western horizon by daybreak. Unlike some meteor showers, the North Taurids don't exhibit a sharp peak, so comparable meteor rates might be in store for the next several days.
• Bottom line: 2012 is a good year for the slow-moving North Taurid meteors, which are at their peak this weekend. People have been reporting Taurids all week, and they should exhibit as many as 10 meteors per hour during the few hours after midnight on Sunday, November 11 and Monday, November 12. Also, Venus is near the moon on the mornings of November 9, 10 and 11. Watch for them in the predawn sky.