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In 2021, a Geminid meteor will be seen streaking across the sky at Yulong Snow Mountain in southwestern China. This year, the Geminid meteors will peak on Thursday.
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Sky watchers will soon have the chance to see dozens of meteors streaking across the sky as the annual Geminid meteor shower reaches its climax.
Gemind is scheduled to reach its peak, or most active period, on Thursday at 2:27 p.m. ET. According to EarthSky. Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society, said the best time to view the celestial displays would be early in the day between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. at any given time.
In a place where there is no interference from the light of the full moon and visibility is good, NASA estimates The Geminid meteor shower could provide up to 120 visible meteors per hour, making it the strongest meteor shower of the year, or the “king of the meteor showers,” as Lunsford called it. During this year’s event, the Moon will be at his 1% full from Wednesday night to Thursday. according to societyMeteor can take center stage.
“It all depends on where you look from. If you’re in the middle of the desert or on a mountaintop, it’s very possible (to see up to 120 meteors). If you’re in your backyard, no,” Lunsford said. .
Realistically, he added, if you look up at the sky from your backyard after midnight in an area away from light pollution, you’ll see an average of 60 meteors per hour.
Lunsford said the meteor shower can be seen from anywhere in the world, but the viewing period will be shorter in the southern hemisphere. That’s because the constellation Gemini (the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower, the region where meteors are thought to occur) is low in the sky and is only expected to rise after midnight.
Earlier this year, using ongoing data from NASA, parker solar exploration missionastronomers discovered that the Geminid meteor (composed of debris from an asteroid named Phaeton 3200) was likely created by aliens. violent collision It could have been between the asteroid and another space rock or some type of gas explosion, according to a June study published in . Planetary Science Journal. The first recorded observation of a meteor shower was taken in his 1862.
Geminid meteors are extremely bright and are known to be colored depending on their chemical composition. Some of these space rocks may contain more calcium, sodium, and nickel than others, so meteors in this rain could appear orange, yellow, or even green. Lunsford said there is.
The Geminid meteor shower has been seen racing across the sky since November, and appears to be increasing in number as Earth approaches the center of the 3,200 Phaethon debris cloud. Lunsford said showers will likely be more likely to occur in the days before and after the peak, even if bad weather obstructs viewing conditions.
“Get a lawn chair, find the darkest spot on your property, and look halfway up the sky, away from trees or anything, so you can almost see to the horizon,” says Lunsford. said. “And just sit back and enjoy the show. You’ll see Geminid meteors flying in every direction.”
The next and last major meteor shower in 2023 will be the Ursa Minorids, which is expected to peak from the night of December 21st to the early morning of December 22nd. American Meteor Society.