Where to see the Geminid meteor shower in 2017

This article relates to the Geminid meteor shower in 2017 – see the article covering 2018 here.

This year’s Geminid meteor shower takes place from 4th December to the 16th December with peak activity on the evening of the 13th December through to the morning of 14th December. During the peak up to 120 meteors per hour might be seen with the best time to see them being from midnight through to dawn.

Named after the constellation Gemini from which the meteors appear to radiate this meteor shower is slightly different to others that occur throughout the year. Most meteor showers are caused by dust particles from comets burning up in the atmosphere, however in the case of the Geminids it’s caused by the debris from an asteroid named “3200 Phaethon”. Geminids are renowned for their bright display and sometimes appear as green flashes due to the material they are made of.

Peak activity coincides with a waning crescent moon meaning the moon’s natural light pollution should not affect observing. Darker skies mean more meteors might be seen and therefore it’s worthwhile travelling to a dark sky site to get away from man-made light pollution.

Hours of darkness on 13th December –
[gostDarkSkyDate date=”2017-12-13″ latitude=”54.013″ longitude=”2.32″ location=”Forest of Bowland”]

As always wherever you choose to go first tell someone where you are going, wrap up warm, take some hot drinks and be patient! Good luck spotting them!

Public stargazing events 11th December – 16th December

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