Geminid Meteor shower – december 2010
The Geminid Metor Shower are caused by the object 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid with an extraordinary orbit that brings it closer to the Sun. Geminids are slow moving and can be seen in December.
Geminid Meteor Shower 2010 is happening now. One of the maximum nights of the showers is on December 12. But it might be even better on Monday, December 13. The showers of meteorites usually produces more than 100 meteors flashing through the night sky every hour.
The Astronomers consider it as one of the best meteor shower of the year. The peak of the annual Geminid Meteor Shower will occur on Tuesday between midnight and sunrise. Millions of meteors occur in the Earth’s atmosphere every day.
- Meteor shower.
Star-gazers are being urged to stay up late and enjoy one of the best displays of the Geminid meteor showers for some years on the night of 14 December 2010.
The National Trust has cited Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire as one of the seven best locations to view the meteors.
The peak of activity was expected on Tuesday morning. However, cloud cover meant that very little could be seen.
Astronomers say that the display will last until the early hours of Wednesday 15 December.
Dr Carolyn Crawford from the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge said – “The later you can stay up, the better. After midnight when the moon has set is probably the best time.”
She admitted that conditions were not ideal on Monday night into Tuesday morning, when Geminid was expected to be at its peak.
“It was pretty rubbish because of the thick cloud cover here, and I didn’t see any meteors myself” – Dr Crawford said.
“But it’s supposed to be much clearer tonight so there’s a good chance of seeing something later.”
Phoenix. The best display of shooting stars this year will be late Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Steve Kates, host of the ‘Doctor Sky Show’ on News/Talk 92,3 KTAR, said look for the massive Geminid meteor shower high in the northeastern sky.
“Starting about 10 p.m. – because we’ll have the moon in the sky – you should be able to start to see some decent activity coming out of the northeast” – Kates said. “Then when the moon sets just around midnight, the real best time to watch it will be from midnight to sunrise.”
Kates added: “The contellation is Gemini the Twins and it’s easy to see with the naked eye. This is an event that you really do not need any binoculars, telescopes, anything. Just sit outside with these beautiful warm weather conditions we have throughout December.”
He said: “What you should be able to see with the naked eye are these so-called shooting stars, which is debris that will light up the sky. This is material that may be a few millimeters in diameter – space rocks and maybe pieces of nickel iron that are shooting across the sky and literally incinerating about 100 miles above our head.”