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midnight. The most meteors typically fall in the wee hours after midnight. In a dark sky, you may see as many as 10 meteors per hour. Jupiter and Venus are the two brightest planets up before dawn, but you might be able to catch Saturn, too, now, which is now emerging from the sunrise glare. On Monday morning, November 12, look for Saturn near the thin waning moon.
• The North Taurid meteors are named for the constellation Taurus the Bull because the meteors appear to radiate from this part of the starry sky. This year, the blazing planet Jupiter shines right in front of Taurus, making this constellation fairly easy to locate in 2012. Look in the east at around 7 to 8 p.m. if you live at mid-northern latitudes. At middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Jupiter and Taurus rise over the northeast horizon around 8 to 9 p.m.
• Taurus climbs upward as evening deepens into late night, and soars highest for the night shortly after midnight. The higher that Taurus appears in your sky, the more meteors that you're likely to see. In the predawn and dawn hours, look for Jupiter and Taurus to have moved fairly low in the western sky. In the opposite direction, the waning crescent moon and the planets Venus and Saturn shine low in the east as the predawn darkness gives way to dawn.
• You don't need to find the constellation Taurus to enjoy the North Taurid meteor shower. But you do need to find a dark, open sky. Be sure to take along a reclining lawn chair for comfort. The most meteors will probably streak the nighttime late to (Continued on page 17)
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