Draconid Meteors, Ring Of Fire Eclipse: FL October Skygazing Guide

FLORIDA — Meteor showers return to the skies over Florida this month after a brief hiatus. A couple — the long-running Orionid and Taurid meteor showers — are already underway.

The month’s big event, though, is Oct. 14’s annular solar eclipse. As NASA explains it, this type of eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun but is too far away to completely obscure it, leaving the sun’s outer edges exposed in a red-orange ring.

The “ring of fire” effect will be visible in a narrow path that includes Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

We won’t see as much of the eclipse in Florida, but Oct. 14 is still worth putting on the calendar. In our state, it will look as if the moon took a bite from the sun.

In Tampa, the partial annular eclipse begins at 11:50:18 EDT and mid-eclipse should be reached at 13:25:03 EDT.

In Bradenton, the partial eclipse will start at 11:50:28 EDT and mid-eclipse happens at 13:25:43 EDT.

Also in October: The full hunter’s moon will be on Saturday, Oct. 28, just in time for Halloween. It’s a regular full moon; the full harvest moon on Friday ended a string of four consecutive supermoons.

• Related: 'Ring Of Fire' 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse: What You Need To Know In FL

Shooting Star Shows

Here’s what you need to know about October meteor showers:

Draconids peak, Oct. 8-9: This short-lived, Oct. 6-10 meteor shower passes most years with only a smattering of meteors. Sometimes called the Giacobinid meteor shower in honor of the astronomer who discovered its parent comet, the shooting star is distinctive in that it’s best viewed in the morning evening hours as darkness falls rather than after midnight. The moon will be only about 19 percent illuminated for this shower, and if you’re patient and perhaps a bit lucky, you might catch 10 meteors an hour.

Orionids peak, Oct. 21-22: The Orionid meteor shower started Sept. 26 and runs through Nov. 22, and usually produces 15 or 20 meteors an hour at the peak. It’s considered one of the most beautiful shooting star shows of the year because meteors are bright and fast, entering Earth’s atmosphere at bout 148,000 miles an hour. These meteors that fast can leave glowing trains — that is, incandescent bits of debris that can last several seconds or even minutes — and also fireballs. The moon will be about 37 percent full during the peak.

• Related: 2023 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons, More Celestial Events

Taurids are active now: This long-running meteor shower, which started Sept. 28 and runs through Dec. 2, is unique because it consists of two separate debris streams, both rich in fireballs. Occasionally, the Taurids create a “swarm” with numerous bright fireballs. The last one was in 2015.

In normal years, though, they produce about five or 10 shooting stars an hour. The moon will be about 54 percent full for the Southern Taurids’ Nov. 4-5 peak, and about 2 percent full for the Nov. 11-12 peak of the Northern Taurids.