If you were disappointed with the meager showing put on by this year's Leonid Meteor Shower, don't fret.  What potentially will be the best meteor display of the year is just around the corner, scheduled to reach its peak on Thursday night, Dec. 13: the Geminid Meteors.

The Geminids get their name from the constellation of Gemini, the Twins.  On the night of this shower's maximum the meteors will appear to emanate from a spot in the sky near the bright star Castor in Gemini.

The Geminid Meteors are usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the famous Perseids of August. Studies of past displays show that this shower has a reputation for being rich both in slow, bright, graceful meteors and fireballs as well as faint meteors, with relatively fewer objects of medium brightness. Geminids typically encounter Earth at 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second), roughly half the speed of a Leonid meteor. Many appear yellowish in hue. Some even appear to travel jagged or divided paths.           

The Earth moves quickly through this meteor stream, producing a somewhat broad, lopsided activity profile. Rates of meteors increase steadily for two or three days before maximum, reaching roughly a quarter of its peak strength, then drop off more sharply afterward. Late Geminids, however, tend to be especially bright. Renegade forerunners and late stragglers might be seen for a week or more before and after maximum. [Photos: Geminid Meteor Shower of December 2011]

This year especially good

The Geminids perform excellently in any year, but without a doubt 2012 will be a superb year. Last year's display was seriously compromised by bright moonlight when a glowing gibbous moon came up over the horizon during the late evening hours and washed-out many of the fainter Geminid streaks with its bright light.

But this year, the moon will be at new phase on Dec.13, meaning no moon will be visible. This means that the sky will be dark and moonless all through the Geminid's peak night, making for perfect viewing conditions for the shower.

According to Margaret Campbell-Brown and Peter Brown in the Observer's Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the Geminids are predicted to reach peak activity at 8 p.m. EST Dec. 13 (00:00 UT on Dec. 14). That means those in Europe and North Africa east to central Russia and China are in the best position to catch the very crest of the shower, when the rates conceivably could exceed 120 meteors per hour!

However, maximum rates persist at only marginally reduced levels for some 6 to 10 hours around the biggest ones, so other locations (such as North America) should enjoy some very fine Geminid activity as well. Indeed, under normal conditions on the night of maximum activity, with ideal dark-sky conditions, at least 60 to 120 Geminid meteors can be expected to burst across the sky every hour on average (light pollution greatly cuts the numbers of visible meteors down significantly).  

Viewing tips

Generally speaking, depending on your location, the constellation Gemini begins to come up above the east-northeast horizon right around the time evening twilight is coming to an end. So you might catch sight of a few early Geminids as soon as the sky gets dark.  There is a fair chance of perhaps catching sight of some "Earth-grazing" meteors. Earthgrazers are long, bright shooting stars that streak overhead from a point near to even just below the horizon. Such meteors are distinctive because they follow long paths nearly parallel to our atmosphere. 

7 Comments

1. 1. Richieo 04:33 AM 12/8/12

   Very interesting, but "local time" is meaningless on WWW
   how about being a little more scientific about it?

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2. 2. Obbop 10:13 AM 12/8/12

   Incoming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   
   DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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3. 3. glideair 11:11 AM 12/8/12

   I'll be watching at 7:00 PM C.T. Great Article!

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4. 4. PTGoodman 06:52 PM 12/8/12

   Thanks for the article. Very good information for the non-expert. I sometimes stand outside late at night looking for meteors. The Geminid meteor shower should be a good one.

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5. 5. psibbald 10:10 PM 12/8/12

   @Richieo
   Local time in this case is appropriate. Apart from some variation due to latitude, wherever you are in the world the constellations will appear to rise at approximately the same (local) time, as do the sun and moon. The only thing mentioned in the article which can't be effectively described by 'local time' is the shower's maximum and this was provided in UT.

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6. 6. Geopelia 03:53 PM 12/10/12

   Will it be visible from New Zealand?

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7. 7. psibbald in reply to Geopelia 05:42 PM 12/10/12

   Yes it will, Geopelia. Go to http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html and download the map for the southern hemisphere. Note that the star Castor is below the horizon on the map. It is the 'head' of the northernmost twin.

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