--- title: Three meteor showers peak in November before the first of three back-to-back supermoons description: The Taurids and Leonids peak in November 2026 under dark skies, before the Beaver supermoon rises on 24th November. Dates, times and how to watch. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-10-29T09:01:13.012Z updated: 2026-10-29T09:24:09.416Z canonical: https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/november-2026-meteor-showers-supermoon image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-8390734.webp categories: Mindful Travel content_type: Feature publication: Rich Travel Magazine schema_type: Article --- Every autumn, Earth ploughs through [the debris of two comets](https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/cosmic-wanderer-comet-c-2023-a3-returns-to-our-sky-after-80-000-years). For a few weeks the sky keeps a record of that collision, written in streaks of light that last less than a second. In November 2026 you get three of those records in close succession: the Southern Taurids, the Northern Taurids and the Leonids. The month then closes with the Beaver Moon on 24th November, a supermoon rising among the brightest star clusters of the winter sky. The new moon on 9th November leaves the darkest nights of the month where the Taurids need them. The Moon is half lit on the night of the Leonid peak, but it sets around midnight, roughly as the shower's radiant climbs into view. Only the supermoon itself, flooding the sky with light in the final week, closes the window. ## The Taurids are slow, sparse and famous for fireballs The Taurids come from Comet Encke, a small, dark body that circles the Sun every 3.3 years, the shortest orbit of any major comet. Astronomers believe Encke is the largest surviving fragment of a much bigger comet that broke apart many thousands of years ago. The wreckage spread into a river of rock and dust so wide that Earth takes weeks to cross it, which is why the shower arrives in two branches. The Southern Taurids come from Encke itself. Their stream is so spread out that forecasts place the peak anywhere from mid-October to 5th November, and the first week of November gives you the best mix of activity and darkness. The Northern Taurids, linked to an asteroid called 2004 TG10 that may be another fragment of the same parent, peak on the night of 11th to 12th November. Neither branch produces more than about five meteors an hour. Taurid meteors enter the atmosphere at about 29 kilometres a second, less than half the speed of the Leonids, so they glide across the sky rather than flash. Some of the particles are the size of pebbles, and these produce fireballs: meteors brighter than Venus that can light up the landscape for a moment and break apart as they fall. Their habit of appearing around the end of October has earned them the name Halloween fireballs. In most years about 1% of Taurid meteors are fireballs. When Earth passes through a denser knot of debris, known as a swarm, that share can climb to around 7%. The next swarm is predicted for 2032, so 2026 is an ordinary year, but a single Taurid fireball is still one of the most memorable sights the night sky offers. The stream carries larger objects too. In June 1975, seismometers left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts recorded a cluster of impacts as the Moon passed through the densest part of the Taurid debris. Astronomers will get their next close look at the swarm when it approaches Earth in 2032 and again in 2036. The Taurid radiant sits in the constellation Taurus, which rises in the early evening and stands highest around midnight, so you can watch for Taurids at any point in the night. On 5th November the waning crescent Moon rises in the small hours and adds little glare. If you live in Britain, that night is also [Bonfire Night](https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/bonfire-night-london-fireworks-2026), and the meteors will share the sky with fireworks and smoke. The Northern Taurid peak a week later offers the cleaner view: the thin crescent Moon sets early in the evening and leaves the rest of the night dark. ## The Leonids are the fastest meteors of the year The Leonids come from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which takes about 33 years to orbit the Sun. The comet travels in the opposite direction to Earth, so its debris meets the atmosphere almost head-on at 71 kilometres a second, roughly 255,000 kilometres an hour. At that speed a grain of dust no larger than sand heats the air into a brilliant streak, and the brightest Leonids leave glowing trails that hang in the sky for seconds after the meteor has vanished. Each time Tempel-Tuttle rounds the Sun, it lays down a fresh, dense ribbon of debris. When Earth crosses one of those ribbons, the shower becomes a storm. In November 1833, people across North America woke to a sky filled with tens of thousands of meteors an hour, and many of them believed the world was ending. That night is widely credited with launching the scientific study of meteor showers. In 1966, observers in the American Southwest saw meteors falling at a rate of dozens every second. The most recent strong displays came between 1999 and 2002, after the comet's last pass in 1998. No Leonid meteor storm, the rare outburst of 1,000 or more meteors an hour seen in 1833 and 1966, is forecast for 2026. Under a dark sky you can expect around 15 meteors an hour at the peak, which falls on the night of 17th to 18th November. The first-quarter Moon will be half lit, but it sets around midnight, close to the time the Sickle of Leo, the shower's radiant, climbs high enough in the east to deliver meteors in good numbers. The hours between moonset and the first light of dawn on 18th November give you the best of the shower. Tempel-Tuttle next swings past the Sun in 2031, and meteor forecasters will be watching the years that follow for a return of the storms. ## The Beaver supermoon rises beside the Pleiades The full Moon reaches its peak at 14:53 GMT on 24th November, 360,768 kilometres from Earth, about 23,600 kilometres closer than average. At that distance the Moon sits near perigee, the closest point of its oval orbit, and qualifies as a supermoon: about 6.5% larger and 13.5% brighter than an average full Moon. It is the first supermoon since the Wolf Moon of 3rd January and the first of three in a row. The Cold Moon of 24th December will be the closest full Moon of 2026, at 356,740 kilometres, and the Wolf Moon of January 2027 completes the run. The name Beaver Moon comes from North American almanac tradition, which ties November's full Moon to the season when beavers retreat to their lodges before winter. On the evening of 24th November the Moon rises in Taurus, close to the Pleiades and the Hyades, the two brightest star clusters in that constellation. The supermoon therefore shines from the same patch of sky from which the Taurid meteors appear to fly, and its light will drown out all but the brightest stragglers of the shower. In London the Moon clears the horizon at 15:18 GMT, shortly before sunset, so the most striking view comes as twilight deepens and the Moon hangs low and amber in the east. A low Moon looks larger to you than a high one, an effect produced by the brain rather than by distance, so a rising supermoon framed by buildings or trees gives you the best photograph of the month. The near-perigee Moon also raises spring tides along the coast by a few centimetres. ## Your November sky calendar - **Night of 4th to 5th November:** Southern Taurids near their peak, with a waning crescent Moon rising late. - **9th November:** New moon and the start of the darkest week of the month. - **Night of 11th to 12th November:** Northern Taurid peak under a dark sky. - **Night of 17th to 18th November:** Leonid peak. Watch from moonset around midnight until dawn. - **24th November:** The Beaver supermoon rises in Taurus beside the Pleiades. ## How to get the most from a November night - [Get as far from street lights as you can](https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/stargazing-tips-this-week-s-best-planetary-wonders-in-europe). A dark park or the edge of town makes a large difference to the number of meteors you see. - Give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the dark, and keep your phone screen off or dimmed to red. - Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much of the sky as possible. Meteors can appear anywhere, not only near the radiant. - Dress for the cold, with a hat, gloves and a blanket. November nights lose heat fast, and you will see more if you stay out for an hour or longer. - Bring a flask of something hot. Patience brings results with the sparse Taurids, where a single fireball can arrive after 40 minutes of empty sky. The season does not end with the Beaver Moon. The Geminids, the strongest meteor shower of the year, peak in mid-December, ten days before the closest supermoon of 2026 rises on Christmas Eve.