The moon is new on Friday October 27 which will bring the moon into the evening sky. This leaves the prime morning hours perfectly free of any interfering moonlight. Even observations of the Taurids/Antihelion radiants during the late evening hours should not suffer much from the moonlight since the moon will be a waxing crescent and in the opposite portion of the sky. The radiant positions listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning October 28/29. The positions do not change greatly day to day so these positions may be used during this entire period.

This week the Antihelion radiant is centered at 03:24 (051) +18 (what does this mean?). This position lies in extreme western Taurus some 5 degrees southwest from the Pleiades cluster. Now that Daylight Savings Time is over in the USA this radiant will be best positioned due south near 0100 local standard time. Rates should be decent from this area especially near 0100 LDT when perhaps as many as 5 meteors per hour may appear from this source. These meteors will all appear slow no matter where they appear in the sky. For those who report to the IMO the meteors from northeastern Aries and northwestern Taurus should be labeled North Taurids (NTA) and those meteors from southwestern Taurus and southeastern Aries should be labeled South Taurids (STA).

The Orionids are now past maximum activity but still producing a few shower members each hour when located high in the sky. The radiant position lies at 06:40 (100) +16 which is in western Gemini just 1 degree east of the bright 2nd magnitude star Alhena (Gamma Geminorum). The radiant is not sharp and there have been suggestions that subradiants are active nearby. The radiant rises near 2130 LST (9:30 pm) but is best seen during the last few hours before dawn when it lies high in the southern sky as seen from northern latitudes. The Orionids are normally swift meteors but those seen near the radiant or near the horizon will appear to travel more slowly.

The Northern Apex is now located at 08:24 (126) +33. This position lies on the Lynx/Cancer border some 10 degrees east of the bright star Castor. Since this radiant is diffuse any meteors from the southern half of Lynx, northeastern Gemini, or northern Cancer would be a good candidate. As seen from the Northern Hemisphere this source should still be quite active producing 4-5 meteors per hour near dawn. From the Southern Hemisphere this source would be much lower in the sky and only producing 1-2 meteors per hour.

The Southern Apex source lies exactly 30 degrees south of its northern counterpart at 08:24 (126) +03. This position lies in extreme northwestern Hydra just a few degrees from the "head" of the water serpent. Any swift meteor from eastern Canis Minor, western Hydra, or southern Cancer has a good chance of being from this source. As seen from the Northern Hemisphere this source should produce 2-3 meteors per hour near dawn. Similar rates would be seen from the Southern Hemisphere.

Sporadic meteor rates for the Northern Hemisphere are just past their annual maximum. The expected evening rates would be 2-3 per hour with slight interference from the waxing crescent moon. During the dark morning hours rates could be as high as 10 as seen from rural sites. Rates seen from the Southern Hemisphere would be roughly 50-75% of the northern rates.