The biggest rival of the Perseid meteor shower has arrived! The Geminids which has a reputation for the enormous about of meteors it produces peaks Friday the 14th. This shower often gets overlooked due to the fact that much of the Northern Hemisphere is freezing its buns off during this time. But if you are somewhere warm… or even have a decent sized window, you will want to give this one a shot.
WHEN is it?
The meteor shower goes from about December 4th through the 17th. But its peak is on December 14th so be sure to watch as close to Friday morning as you can. Now as far as when is the best time of night to watch… you are looking for when the constellation is highest in the sky which is around 2 am. If you are not a night owl, you will probably want to wake up super early or at least wait until after 11:30 pm when the Moon sets.
WHERE should you look?
As you can tell by the name, Gemini is the constellation these are close to. If you are watching at the peak time, you don’t need to find the constellation because the entire sky is fair game then but if you are like and want to watch it at a different time you will need to look in the general direction of the constellation. The particular radiant point is out of Castor’s shoulder, but if you find the constellation that should be good enough. If you aren’t that familiar with the sky, don’t worry; you can use an app (like the one I suggested). Pick a star in the constellation and use the app to figure out where the constellation is. You can even figure out when it rises and sets. If you use the app I do, make sure you turn on sky object trajectories and use that as a guide for where the star (or constellation) will be and at what time. It should be on automatically, but in case it is not, it is the button on the upper right of the settings (as shown on the right). Also remember that it is always a good idea not to stare at the exact same constellation all night. Let your eyes wander; where you will see the meteor isn’t an exact science. Sometimes it is helpful to keep your eyes active by looking somewhere else and coming back. These meteors do stray pretty far from the constellation, but if you were to trace their streaks you would find they all originate from the point in Gemini.
WHAT are the meteors made of?
The shooting stars you see are actually not remnants of a comet like most meteor showers. These remnants are from an asteroid that crosses the Earth’s orbit path. We have asteroid 3200 Phaethon to thank for leaving bits of debris behind that burn up in our atmosphere and produce a magnificent light show.
If you don’t feel like watching them real time or are having weather issues check out Slooh’s live broadcast on December 13th 6:00 pm EDT (22:00 UTC). The Slooh broadcast is also featuring Comet 46P/Wirtanen (the brightest comet of the year) as its closest approach is just days away. Slooh requires you to be a member to watch their live broadcast’s but don’t worry becoming a member is free and all you need to provide is an email and name.
Happy Observing!
