Geminid Meteor Shower Visible on Sunday, December 13th

You'll need to dress warmly for Sunday's Geminid meteor shower. Although the temperatures in December may make viewing the Geminid meteor shower more of a physical challenge than one of patience, the conditions are right for a great show this year. The evening of Sunday, December 13^th will mark the peak of the Geminid meteor shower with more than one and a half meteors visible per minute on average for those with clear skies according to NASA.

The Last Big Meteor Shower of 2009

The Geminids are final big meteor shower of the year occurring just two and a half weeks before 2009 passes into history. If you want to catch the show that the Geminids will be putting on, the first thing to do is check your local weather. Be sure to check the radar. Many weather sites allow you to turn cloud cover on and off on the interactive weather radar displays, so be sure that you have clouds turned on. You may have to zoom out a bit to see any active cloud systems that are heading your way. Be sure to read the forecast and even check the hour by hour conditions for the most accurate information.

Check your Weather for the Geminid Meteor Shower

If the skies are clear, there should be a very good opportunity to view many Geminid meteors Sunday night because the moon is just a thin crescent and should not be so bright that it causes the Geminid meteors to fade into invisibility. If you live in a city where there are lights on all night, and Sunday night's weather report looks like it'll be worth the trip, you may want to drive to a more secluded spot. Get as far away from city lights as possible.

Artificial lights create what astronomers call light pollution. Light pollution simply means that light from artificial sources brightens the night sky interfering with the tiny faint lights from stars, meteors and other astronomical objects. That's one reason that most large observatories are located in out of the way places, away from light pollution.

Can You be Hit by One of the Geminid Meteors?

NASA tells us that the Geminid Meteors are the left over dust and debris from the object called 3200 Phaethon, an ancient, spent comet whose outer layers have been burned off by close passages to the sun. Those in the United States should look high in the sky toward the East for the origin of the Gemenids which may seem to emanate from this spot. Don't worry, there's no need to fear being hit by a stray Geminid meteor since they are composed of sand particle sized comet dust. They are generally a light material very different than the stray iron meteorites which are sometimes make it all the way to the ground. Any Geminid meteors that you see on Sunday will undoubtedly burn up very quickly and very completely high in Earth's atmosphere.

For Best Viewing of the Geminid Meteor Shower

Dress warmly, check the weather forecast, and find a spot with little light pollution and a wide field of view if you'd like to spend an evening watching the light show to be put on by the Geminid Meteors Sunday night, December 13^th, 2009.

Source:
www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/geminid20091209.html

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