Watch On
The Geminid meteor bathe peaks tonight (Dec. 13) however in case you’re unable to catch the prolific bathe in particular person, you’ll be able to nonetheless get pleasure from this spectacular occasion from the consolation of your private home.
Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project is providing a free livestream of the Geminid meteor bathe on Dec. 13, beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST (2300 GMT), climate allowing.
You can watch all of the motion unfold right here on Space.com courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project, or straight on their WebTV web page or YouTube channel.
Unfortunately this 12 months, the intense near-full moon will wash out the fainter meteors, however we are able to nonetheless count on some spectacular Geminids.
“While this bathe affords at its peak 100 meteors per hour beneath darkish skies, this time we are able to seemingly count on 15 taking pictures stars per hour,” in keeping with Masi. “We will arrange a particular, very giant discipline of view tools in Manciano, beneath the darkest skies of Italy and can share the brightest meteors in real-time!” Masi continued.
Night sky stay
Keep updated with what you’ll be able to see tonight with our night time sky stay weblog.
The Geminid meteor bathe is famed for being one of many brightest and most dependable meteor bathe occasions of the 12 months. From the Virtual Telescope Project livestream from Manciano Italy, the darkish skies will give observers the very best likelihood of catching a glimpse of a powerful Geminid, no matter the intense moon.
Geminds are uncommon as a result of in contrast to different meteor showers that end result from particles left over from comets, they’re created by bits of near-Earth object 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid which will have undergone a collision with one other object within the distant previous to create a stream of particles. The unusual asteroid behaves like a comet and orbits the solar each 1.4 years. When Earth passes by way of the particles left behind by Phaethon the “asteroid crumbs” warmth up as they enter Earth’s ambiance and dissipate in vivid bursts of sunshine.
If you need extra recommendation on {photograph} the Geminids, try our {photograph} meteors and meteor showers information and in case you want imaging gear, take into account our greatest cameras for astrophotography and greatest lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s notice: If you seize a tremendous view of the Geminid meteor bathe or every other night time sky view that you simply wish to share with Space.com for a attainable story or gallery, ship photos and feedback to: spacephotos@area.com.
