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Geminid Meteor Shower

Posted by michael on from the stardust dept.

Target Practice writes "Is it an asteroid? Is it a comet? Who cares? According to Sky and Telescope's website, 3200 Phaethon has been spewing chunks into our atmosphere for the past 150 years, and tonight, after the lan party, you can step outside at two or three A.M. and see the best light show yet - topping off at 75 meteors per hour! Be there..." Space.com has another story.

3 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hmm by garcia · · Score: 5, Informative

    it's growing awareness. The news would barely report it. *IF* they did it was a small blurb by the weather man or some other meaningless non-sense.

    Now we have news.google.com and www.slashdot.org to tell us every last thing that happens that is of importance to dorks...

  2. Some more info by maggard · · Score: 5, Informative
    Just to be a bit more realistic we're talking about one trail per minute or so. While that's nice to see when laying on one's back next to someone you like, or just for the thrill of it if you're into astronomy, it's not enough to get most folks off their couches. Considering also it's mid-winter in the northern hemisphere the viewership is likely somewhat limited.

    As to "are there more of these?" Nope. We have had a few spectacular shows in the past few years but nothing statistically unusual or anything more then wider reporting and slightly more accurate predictions.

    Usual tips apply: Get out of the city, away from parking-lot lights, hills help block glare, let your eyes adjust, remember that a clear sky is COLD, binoculars are useless for this but entertaining for looking at other things like nebula and Jupiter's moons, look up online for tips regarding astrophotography and no your camera flash won't help...

    --
    I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
  3. Peak time by pandrel · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to the Article Peak activity is projected around 4 a.m. EST (1 a.m. PST) with ideal dark-sky conditions, at least 60 to 120 Geminid meteors can be expected to burst across the sky every hour. They will be hitting Earth's Atmosphere at 22 miles per minute.. Insane..