Geminid meteor shower set to peak Thursday evening

BBC ^ | 12-13-12 | Staff

[P.O.E.]

The annual Geminids meteor shower will reach its peak late on Thursday night and into early Friday morning.

The meteors will appear to radiate from a point near the star Castor, in the constellation Gemini.

In the Northern hemisphere, that will be westward and nearly overhead in the early hours of Friday.

Sky watchers can expect an average of dozens of "shooting stars" per hour, made easier to see by darkness provided by the "new moon" phase.

The shower comes about each year as the Earth passes through the path of an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.

[P.O.E.]

Nice clear night here in NE PA. Happy hunting!

[PeaceBeWithYou]

There is a bonus shower this year - Piscids

You can listen too.

The Geminids are the high pitched, fast ones. The Piscids are low and slow.

[Red_Devil 232]

So other than looking up which direction should I be looking for them to originate from here in east Texas?

[Brandonmark]

[NonValueAdded]

Look West, young man.

[Red_Devil 232]

Thanks! I was expecting that answer except for the “young” part. LOL

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Where to look

[Cowgirl of Justice]

Here near Atlanta. Total darkness. I think I saw one out of the corner of my eye.

Heard the coyotes though. Think they got a neighbor’s little dog. :*(

[P.O.E.]

If you look towards Orion (the Irish constellation), you’ll see bright, unwinking Jupiter.

They seem to be coming every which way, so you’ll have to lean back and get as good a glance at the whole sky as you can.

My count is 8 in the last 20 minutes or so.

[P.O.E.]

Thanks - I did see a low one - you could see it fizzle.

[Nik Naym]

What are they going to be peaking at?

[KoRn]

Went out for a few minutes tonight and it was VERY impressive. One of the better ‘showers’ I’ve seen! There was at LEAST 3 or 4 per minute. Some of them were really good sized too! After a short while, the cold weather drove us back inside.(dammit!)

[PeaceBeWithYou]

If you are in a city, you'll see more here - NASA live stream.

[sjm_888]

Driving westbound out of Columbus, OH towards Dayton tonight, saw about a half dozen in an hours time.

[Figment]

Was out looking for awhile and saw a few. Does anyone know what that is almost straight over head that looks like a smudge in the sky? Is there a comet I wasn’t aware of?

[Fledermaus]

Bttt

[P.O.E.]

The Pleaides?

[PeaceBeWithYou]

The Andromeda Galaxy would be my guess.

December 2012 sky chart

[Daffynition]

http://www.spacedex.com/geminids/

Scroll down and find your state. Good info. Have fun! We're going out about 2 AM! Can't wait!

[rlmorel]

Up here in MA, I was just out for about 10 minutes looking straight up towards Jupiter and a little to the west, and saw four.

Also could see the moons of Jupiter through my binoculars...:)