The Geminid meteor shower is one of the last major showers of the year. In 2022, the
Geminid meteor shower will peak on 13-14 December.
Usually,
as many as 150 meteors per hour can be seen in the show, which makes it among
the best of the year for actually spotting a meteor.
This
year, the brightness of the Moon will have a slightly diminishing effect, with NASA predicting between 30-40 meteors per hour.
“Don’t
miss the annual Geminids meteor shower,” NASA
tweeted.
Geminids facts:
- Together with the Quadrantids, the Geminids are the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet.
- The beautiful streaks we
see in the night sky can actually be caused by particles as small as a
grain of sand!
- Geminids were first
observed in 1862, much more recently than other showers such as the Perseids and Leonids.
- The Geminids are thought
to be intensifying every year.
"Notice that the Geminids’ radiant point, and the moon, are close together in Earth’s sky. But there’s still a window of darkness between the time the radiant rises in mid-evening, and the moon rises around midnight. That’s the time to watch for meteors this week.
EarthSky
Nearest moon
phase: In 2022, last quarter moon falls on December 16.
So, it’s a bright waning gibbous moon that’ll rise in the
midst of the Geminids’ peak in 2022.
When to watch:
The usual advice is that it’s best to get away from buildings and other
sources of light to watch the meteor shower. In many places, at this kind of
year, that’s going to be very difficult, given the weather. For Portugal, it
wil be very difficult because we have a severe weather this week.
All is not lost for others countries! Notice the rising time of the
Geminids’ radiant
point. The constellation Gemini is up by mid-evening
in December. And moonrise isn’t until later, shortly before midnight, on the
evenings of both December 13 and 14. And the moon rises later on December 14,
providing more time for meteor-watching.
The peak time of night is around 2 a.m. for all parts of the globe.
Both evenings – December 13 and 14 – are worth a try! I wish you will be
lucky
You can still view Geminids just before or after this date, but the last
opportunity is on December 17.
Be sure to tell us about your meteor shower experience below...
Happy stargazing!
G-Souto
13.12.2022
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