The Geminid meteor bathe over Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in China
Jeff Dai/Stocktrek Photographs/Alamy
The height of the Geminid meteor bathe, on the morning of 14 December, is predicted to dazzle this 12 months. The bathe began on 19 November and can finish on 24 December, however preserve a watch out over the approaching days as a result of exercise is ramping up.
What are meteor showers?
Meteors are vibrant flashes of sunshine that transfer shortly throughout the sky. They’re attributable to items of mud and particles from area getting into the environment, the place they decelerate and dissipate. This occurs from time to time and may happen at any time. On a given night time of stargazing, you may see a few meteors each hour. Meteor showers are intervals in which there’s a notable improve within the variety of meteors, attributable to Earth shifting by way of a path of particles left behind by a comet or asteroid. Due to this, they have a tendency to occur across the similar time every year, as the identical particles trails are encountered time and again.
What’s the Geminid meteor bathe?
The Geminids aren’t attributable to a comet, as most meteor showers are, however by an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon. However that is an uncommon asteroid, with a comet-like vapour tail that puzzled astronomers for some time. In 2021, NASA advised it is likely to be attributable to sodium “fizzing” on its floor.
How do I watch the Geminids?
No particular tools is required to observe the Geminids, only a clear sky. This 12 months might be significantly good, as a brand new moon on 12 December means there might be little or no moonlight, making it simpler to see the bathe in opposition to the night time sky. The Geminids have been recognized to provide as much as 150 meteors per hour in darkish skies. You might be unlikely to see that many, particularly in case you are someplace with gentle air pollution, however it’s price watching wherever you’re. Even just some are lovely to behold.
How do I discover Gemini?
Like all meteor showers, the Geminids are named after the constellation they seem to return from within the sky – on this case, Gemini. You don’t have to seek out Gemini to see the meteors, as they may journey throughout the sky. However if you wish to, Gemini is simple to establish due to its two vibrant stars, Castor and Pollux.
First, discover Orion and search for its two brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a reddish star within the high left of Orion when considered from the northern hemisphere, or its backside proper when considered from the southern hemisphere. The blue-white Rigel is on the backside proper of Orion within the northern hemisphere, however on the high left within the southern hemisphere.
To search out Gemini, draw a line from Rigel to Betelgeuse, then preserve that line going about the identical distance once more to seek out two vibrant stars shut to one another: these are Castor and Pollux. That is the place the Geminids will seem to return from.
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