The annual 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. This particular meteor shower is well known for putting on a good show compared to others with the potential of seeing up to 120 meteors per hour. The best time to spot them is during the early morning hours on the 14th December from midnight through to dawn.
Meteor showers occur as the Earth travels around the Sun when it passes through large clouds of dust left over by the tails of comets or debris from asteroids. Meteors, also known as shooting stars, are tiny dust particles no bigger than a grain of rice that disintegrate through friction as they enter Earth’s atmosphere. This process causes the energy of the dust particles (in the form of mass) to be converted into heat and light causing them to glow brightly as they streak across the sky.
Named after the constellation Gemini from which the meteors appear to radiate the Geminids are a product of debris left over from asteroid “3200 Phaethon”. Geminids are renowned for their bright display and sometimes appear as green flashes due to the material they are made up of.
This year the peak of activity takes place when the moon has already set so the skies will be nice and dark for meteor spotting. It’s well worth planning ahead finding a suitable dark sky location to observe from.
Hours of darkness on 13th December –
[gostDarkSkyDate date=”2018-12-13″ latitude=”54.013″ longitude=”2.32″ location=”Forest of Bowland”]
The best places to see them will be somewhere away from our light polluted towns at a location that has a wide open expanse of skies free of obstructions on the horizons. Rather than staring at any single point use your peripheral vision to scan as much of the sky as possible and your eyes will be automatically drawn to any shooting stars. As always wherever you choose to go first tell someone where you are going, wrap up warm, take some hot drinks and be patient!
We hope you have found this little guide useful! Good luck spotting them!
Clear skies!
Public stargazing events 11th December – 16th December
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