Sky Show Tonight!

The Geminids Meteor Shower

As if Saturn's maximum brightness on New Year's Eve wasn't enough, the asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon appears this month, bringing with it the Geminids meteor shower. The asteroid and the Geminids will decorate the night sky Dec. 6th through Dec. 19th.


Tips for Viewing the Shower:

1. The Geminids peak the evening of Dec. 13th.

2. The shower tops the horizon nearly all night long.

3. The optimum observation point shifts throughout the night.

4. For the best viewing position in early evening, point your feet any direction but East and look straight up.

Hi Patricia,

I knew nothing of this shower until you mentioned it, and as it's a cloudless sky (for once!) in Glasgow I 'd like to get a good view.

Does your advice hold for Scotland as well? I've found numerous websites suggesting I look for Castor and Pollux, but the constellations mean nothing to me.

hope you can help!

Andy

Hi Andy.

Well, my area was stormy last night, so there was no sky show for me.

My ISP is AOL. I signed up for their Skywatcher Alert service. They send out an email notifying me of upcoming sky events and they give instruction on how to position yourself for the best view. I am sure that you should be able to see them if your sky is clear. Tonight will be good, I think. Check out the links below. Also, TallGuy seems to be pretty knowledgeable about astronomy, so you could PM him for help. Let me know if you see anything.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors/article_802_1.asp


http://www.asnh.org/news/geminids.html

Good luck,

Paty

Oooooooooooooo ... how very very neat ... I love stuff like this ... :) Thanks for the heads up.

e

Thanks for the links Patricia.

I fear I might just fall asleep before the real action starts in the early hours of the morning, but if I can resist, I will surely let you know what I saw.

Thanks again, Andy

Hi again Patricia,

unfortunately I didn't get to see anything, despite trying for some time. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but I may have been looking in the wrong place. I don't get a very clear view of the south from my home because of other houses and the glare from streetlights.

I may try again tonight, perhaps a little earlier.

I was out last night with my 'scope looking at Saturn and the Orion nebula. I caught one Geminid out of the corner of my eye, but that was it.

Of course, it was only around 8 pm, and these things don't really get started until the Earth turns into them. Imagine driving down the highway and having bugs hit your windshield.... you're not going to see too many looking out the back window.