Both the southern and northern hemispheres get an astronomical treat this weekend. The northern hemisphere gets its usual fantastic Geminid Meteor Shower and the folks in South America get to enjoy a solar eclipse! For the northerners willing to endure the cold, they can enjoy the Geminids, the one shower that can rival the Perseids in number of meteors (or chances to spot one of those shining streaks!) and that peak is literally tomorrow night, Monday morning. Monday morning/afternoon will be extra special for those in South America who get to see a solar eclipse. Don’t worry if there is bad weather in your location, you can enjoy both of these events virtually! Let’s get to the details!
First Up: Geminid Meteor Shower
WHEN is it?
The meteor shower goes from about December 4th through the 17th. But its peak is on December 13/14th so be sure to watch as close to Monday morning as you can. There will no moon to outshine this party so you can really go out whenever. Of course, it is always recommended to go when the constellation is highest in the sky during the predawn hours for the most opportunity to see meteors but I have had plenty of luck looking out my window to the East before I have gone to bed at night (around 11:00pm).
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 (early monring), you don’t need to find the constellation because the entire sky is fair game then but if you are like me 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. Also remember that it is always a good idea not to stare at the exact same spot 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. 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.
Second Up: The South American Solar Eclipse
Before we get to any of the details, a reminder: it is not safe to stare at the Sun without proper equipment. This can be special glasses or a special lens on a camera: sun glasses do not make the cut. If you don’t have them or can’t get them by Monday, don’t worry! There are other tricks with shadows you can use to watch the Moon pass over the Sun (here and here).
How to watch
The path of totality goes from Saavedra, Chile to Salina del Eje, Argentina, but pretty much the entire continent will get to experience the partial eclipse. The full map can tell you whether or not you will be able to view the partial or total eclipse here. The partial eclipse starts as early as 9:00am local in Peru and ends at 7pm local in Nambia while the total eclipse goes from about 11:30 local in Chile to 1:30 local in Argentina. The full map in the link above has vertical lines indicating the time of the peak of the eclipse for the locations on the map. These lines are written in the universal time zone so be sure to convert locally.
Not having favorable weather? Not in a location to see the meteor shower or the eclipse? You can still join in on the fun! Slooh is hosting the two events on their youtube page. The Geminids meteor shower viewing party is scheduled for 12/13 6:00 pm EST ( 13/12 23:00 UTC) here. The solar eclipse viewing party starts at 12/14 9:30 am EST (14/12 14:30 UTC) here. The great thing about Slooh is that they have access to many telescopes so they are not as weighed down by weather as the rest of us!
Happy Observing!
Oh and by the way on December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will be close on our celestial sphere (or look close from our perspective). This isn’t particularly interesting to me but if you want to check it out here are some other articles x,x,x.
