Astroblog: Geminid Meteor shower, 14-15 December 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Geminid Meteor shower, 14-15 December 2010

The radiant of the Geminid meteor shower above the northern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 3:00 pm ACDST on December 15, similar views will be seen from other sites at equivalent local times.

The Geminid Meteor shower is at its peak from the point of view of Australian's on the mornings of Tuesday 14 December and Wednesday 15 December. The actual peak is December 14, 11 UT, which is 10 pm AEDST (well before the radiant rises), but unlike the Leonids the Geminid peak is broad, and we should see decent rates on the mornings of the 14th and 15th (better on the 15th).

The best time to observe is between 1 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 12-3 am non-daylight saving time), with the highest rates between 2-3 am daylight saving time.

The Moon will have set by the time the Geminid radiant is high enough in the northern sky for decent meteor rates to be seen. In Australia we should see roughly a meteor every 3 minutes (depending on how dark you sky is, the more light pollution, the fewer meteors you see).

When looking, be sure to let your eyes adjust for at least 5 minutes so your eyes can be properly adapted to the dark. Don't look directly at the radiant site, because the meteors will often start their "burn" some distance from it, but around a handspan up or to the side. Be patient, although you should see an average of a meteor every three minutes, a whole stretch of time can go by without a meteor, then a whole bunch turn up one after the other.

Make yourself comfortable, choose an observing site that has little to obstruct the northern horizon, have a comfortable chair to sit in (a banana lounger is best), or blankets and pillows. A hot Thermos 0f something to drink and plenty of mosquito protection will complete your observing preparations. As well as meteors, keep an eye out for satellites (see Heavens Above for predictions from your site). The sky will also be particularly beautiful, with the constellations of Orion and Taurus gracing the north-western sky and Saturn and Venus rising in the east.

You can check meteor rate predictions for you local site with the NASA meteor flux estimator (scroll down to 4 Geminids in the SHOWER box, make sure you have your location and date correct as well). You can follow world wide Geminid counts at the IMO live Geminid site.

UPDATE: Comet Al writes in the comments: Have look at this if you have clouds, Radio Meteors, sound added. rgds Cometal
http://cometal-comets.blogspot.com/2010/12/fun-with-geminids-2010.html

Go and have a read, it's great!

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Labels: Meteors

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:03 pm

Comments:

Thanks for the info Ian. I was up between 1-2am in regional Victoria last and saw a decent 40 per hour. I'm looking forward to an even better display tonight!

Steph

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:51 am

Gidday Ian,
Have look at this if you have clouds, Radio Meteors, sound added. rgds Cometal
http://cometal-comets.blogspot.com/2010/12/fun-with-geminids-2010.html

# posted by

CometAl : 9:20 am

Steph: envy I was up tis morning and saw zip.

Comet Al: That's marvelous, I'll put that link up in the main body of the article.

# posted by

Ian Musgrave : 9:39 am

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

pcqpig : 4:14 pm

thankyou so much. btw are u single ;)

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:24 pm

I just saw it at the location figure shows! Thank you!

# posted by

NSW2032 : 2:13 am

Thanks so much for the info! I saw 4 in 15 mins from my backyard in melbourne! It came and went so quickly but was amazing!

# posted by

Cassie : 9:04 am

Hi - just wondering what the best time to see the metor shower from hervey bay queensland ?? or have i already missed it :(

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:52 pm

Hi - just wondering what the best time to see the metor shower from hervey bay queensland ?? or have i already missed it :(

The peak was this morning, but tomorrow morning (16th) you should see some decent rates (use the meteor flux estimator at the link in the main article for a predition for your exact location for tomorrow morning).

The best time to observe is between 12-3 am non-daylight saving time, with the highest rates between 1-2 am non-daylight saving time.

# posted by

Ian Musgrave : 4:43 pm

btw are u single ;)
guess

# posted by

Ian Musgrave : 4:49 pm

oh ian u really know how to turn a girl on ;)

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:23 pm

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

# posted by

Lowest Unique Bid : 10:50 pm