Could
be the best of the year
 |
| Late night view |
By
Will Collette
Starting
around 9 PM when the constellation Gemini rises into easy view in the eastern
sky and continuing all night long as Gemini seems to traverse the sky, we may
be in for a treat in the form of the annual Geminid meteor shower.
Conditions
look good for near-perfect viewing of perhaps as many as one meteor per minute. The moon is dark (new moon),
and the National
Weather Service forecast is for mostly clear skies and 33-degree
temperatures.
This has been a good year for my own meteor viewing. I saw a terrific fireball just a few nights ago at around 11 PM – bright white to the north-northwest (nowhere near Gemini) and big enough that I could see pieces of it flying off before it blew up with a bright puff. Best sighting I’ve had yet in Charlestown, and it played out right in front of me. A couple of weeks ago, a similar fireball came down at around 8 PM to the east, but I could only glimpse it in my peripheral vision.
Most meteor showers are believed to be the remnants or trails of comets, but the Geminids are one of the few associated with fragments of an asteroid (not that it matters to the viewers).
Look for meteors radiating out from Gemini, but by all means don’t just look there. Ya never know when a meteor might come from elsewhere. Frequent meteor-shower observers recommend sitting in a lounge chair, dressed for temperatures at around freezing. Don’t use binoculars or a telescope, since that will really lower your odds of seeing a meteor.
We have a great dark sky here in Charlestown and, hopefully, near-ideal conditions. Enjoy!