Geminid meteor shower India December 14 2022 – Star Party for Astronomers

Meteor showers are events seen from a planet’s surface, where numerous meteors are seen within a short period of time radiating from roughly the same area of the sky.

Like most typical meteors streaking through the night sky, those which are part of a meteor shower tend to consist of small pieces of mineral. They’re often smaller than a grain of sand, burning brightly up as they pass through the atmosphere.

As a comet travels close to the Sun, it heats up and part of the comet vaporizes. After a comet has orbited the Sun many times, a lot of small pieces of the comet are left along the comet’s path. A meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the path of a comet. When this happens, the bits of comet debris, most no larger than a grain of sand, create streaks of light in the night sky as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Bits of debris that enter Earth’s atmosphere are called meteors. On any night, there are several small meteors that shoot across the sky. However, during a meteor shower, tens to hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour. Many of these meteor showers can be predicted and occur at the same time each year.

Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as “space rocks.”

When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.

The Geminid meteor shower occurs between November 19 to December 24 and will peak on the nights of December 13 and 14. 

Unlike a majority of the meteor showers we experience on Earth, the Geminids are the product of an asteroid. The reliable shower produces bright meteors associated with the asteroid Phaethon, a strange blue rock that acts like a comet. 

When there is no interference from moonlight, skywatchers can see up to 150 meteors per hour at peak times according to the American Meteor Society(opens in new tab). However, this year, the Geminids will experience interference from the 70% illuminated moon which will outshine fainter meteors.

1. Be sure you know which days the shower will peak. 

Meteor showers happen over many days, as Earth encounters a wide stream of icy particles in space: debris left behind by a comet. The peak is just what it implies. It’s a point in time when Earth is expected to encounter the greatest number of particles from a particular meteor stream. In 2021, the peak mornings for the Perseids are August 11, 12 and 13. To find the peak dates of other meteor showers, try EarthSky’s meteor guide for 2021. Be aware that most, but not all, meteor showers are best after midnight.

2. Find out the time of the shower’s peak in your time zone. 

You don’t need to watch exactly at the peak time. But it can help you decide which night is absolutely best for you.

Different sources might list different times for the peak of a meteor shower. In that case, go with a source you trust. Here at EarthSky, we trust the Observer’s Handbook from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Predictions are not always spot on. And do be aware that the peak typically stretches over a day or so. The Observer’s Handbook gives the peak time for the Perseids as August 12 at 19:00 UTC. So you could watch on the mornings of August 12 or 13. We recommend watching on August 11, too, because the Perseids are known to rise gradually to a peak and then fall off rapidly.

3. Watch on the nights around the peak, too. 

If you miss a shower’s peak, you might not see as many meteors. But don’t let that discourage you! As we’ve mentioned before, predictions for meteor shower peaks are not always right on the money. It’s possible to see very nice meteor displays hours before or after the published peak. For example, who can forget the famous 1998 Leonid meteor shower? The predicted peak favored observers in Europe, and yet those of us in the U.S. were nevertheless treated to wonderful displays of Leonids on the nights before and after the predicted peak.

Just remember, meteor showers are part of nature. They often defy prediction.

4. Understanding the shower’s radiant point can help. 

A meteor shower’s radiant point is that point in the sky from which the meteors will appear to radiate. Some people seem to think they have to be able to identify the radiant point in order to be able to watch the shower, but that is a serious misconception. You can see meteors shoot up from the horizon before a shower’s radiant has even risen into the sky.

Here’s the power of the radiant point. Once it has risen into your sky, you’ll see more meteors. When it’s at its highest overhead – assuming you’re watching at a time when the shower has been producing meteors steadily over many hours – you’ll see the most meteors.

So find out the radiant point’s rising time. It can help you pinpoint the best time of night to watch the shower.

5. Find out the shower’s expected rate or the number of meteors per hour. 

Here we touch on a topic that often leads to some bad feelings, especially among novice meteor watchers. Tables of meteor showers almost always list what is known as the zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) for each shower.

The ZHR is the number of meteors you’ll see if you’re watching in a very dark sky, with the radiant overhead, when the shower is at its peak. In other words, the ZHR represents the number of meteors you might see per hour given the very best observing conditions during the shower’s maximum.

Now let’s apply this term to a real-world example. In 2021, the Observer’s Handbook gives a zenithal hourly rate for the Perseid meteor shower of 90. That doesn’t mean you’ll see 90 meteors per hour, but it does mean you might if you’re watching on a peak night in a dark sky, when the radiant is highest.

6. You must be aware of the phase of the moon. 

If the moon is at a quarter phase or greater, you’re going to miss meteors, even if your skies are otherwise dark. It’s okay if the moon sets before the radiant rises because the Earth blocks the moon’s light from the sky. But nothing dampens the display of a meteor shower more effectively than the presence of a bright moon. Luckily, as mentioned above, the moon is not a factor for the Perseid meteor shower in 2021.

7. Dress warmly. 

The nights can be cool or cold, even during the spring and summer months.

8. Bring along that thermos of hot coffee or tea. 

It’ll be your friend at 3 a.m.

9. Bring a blanket or lawn chair for reclining comfortably while looking up at the sky.

If you’re observing with a friend, set your chairs out back-to-back, and look at different parts of the sky. Then when one of you sees a meteor, he or she can call out “meteor,” and everyone can turn and look.

10. Relax and enjoy the night sky. 

Not every meteor shower is a winner. Sometimes, you may come away from a shower seeing only one meteor. But consider this. If that one meteor is a bright one that takes a slow path across a starry night sky.

Right now, Earth is in the midst of the Geminid meteor shower, which this year lasts from November 19 to December 24. It will peak on the night of December 13 and into the next morning.

Heralded as one of the best astronomical events of the year, the Geminids can display more than 100 meteors per hour under the optimal conditions of clear skies and low light pollution. Their glowing white or yellow streaks in the winter sky rival the famed August Perseids in splendor.

On an average night at another time of year, you could likely see a handful of meteors per hour. But in mid-December, Earth passes into the trail of debris left by 3200 Phaethon, a strangely hybrid space object that’s rocky like an asteroid but has a tail like a comet. As the dense dust and fragments left by the rock comet become vaporized in the atmosphere, we can see a fantastic display. The Geminid meteors travel at 78,000 miles per hour—more than 40 times the speed of a bullet.

This year, though, the spectacle’s peak coincides with a bright moon. As a result, the streaks of light will be more difficult to see, and Northern Hemisphere viewers might only spot 30 to 40 meteors per hour, according to NASA. Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office, suggests sitting in the shade of a house or tree to minimize the interference of moonlight, per the agency.

While the moon could disrupt the ideal viewing window, which is usually around 2 a.m. local time, EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd and Kelly Kizer Whitt suggest watching earlier in the evening on Tuesday, when Gemini is visible but the moon hasn’t yet risen. The celestial show starts early compared to some others—around 9 or 10 p.m. local time—which also makes this a more kid-friendly event than other showers. The meteors appear to originate near the Gemini constellation, giving the shower its name. Gemini is fairly simple to find on a clear night: Since it lies to the northeast of Orion, look for the celestial hunter’s telltale three-star belt, and Gemini’s two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, will be nearby.