December is offering quite a show for stargazers in North America – a meteor shower along with a total lunar eclipse. Tonight, December 13th, will be the best meteor shower of the year.
The huge meteor shower is named the Geminid meteor shower because it is seen in the direction of the constellation Gemini. This display of “shooting stars” occurs every year, but this year it is expected to be the best in quite a while. Early evening, look low in the northeast. Just past 2:00am local time, the radiant of the meteor shower will be nearly straight overhead. At 5am it will low in the west.
Viewing of meteor showers is best after midnight. For comfort while viewing, dress warm and have a leaned back lawn chair or sleeping bag, and keep your neck comfy as you gaze in wonder for hours in the cold. No binoculars or telescopes are needed. Dec. 13th is the best night but Dec. 14th will also feature the show.
Meteor showers are associated with comets, as the earth moves through a comet’s orbit, it gathers up the fragments and they become visible as bright streaks in the night sky. The Geminid meteor shower is different in that it is not associated with a comet, but an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon.
The total lunar eclipse will occur on the night of December 20th and is to be the best lunar eclipse to be seen until 2014. There are two lunar eclipses that will occur in 2011; however they are not expected to be as spectacular as this month’s total lunar eclipse.
