Up to 150 shooting stars an HOUR to light up the skies as the best meteor shower of the year arrives
This week, as the Geminid meteor shower rushes over the skies, STARGAZERS can see up to 150 shooting stars each hour.
The brightest and most active meteor shower of the year is thought to be the Geminids.
The annual event takes place between December 4 and December 20.
However, the greatest number of meteors per hour will be seen between Friday and Sunday (December 13 and 15).
The Geminids can be seen all throughout the world, but they are most noticeable in the northern hemisphere.
The Geminids frequently have a multicolored appearance, causing streaks of white, yellow, green, red, and blue to emerge across the sky.
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Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, claims that the presence of different metals in the meteoroids is what causes the rainbow lightshow.
“Bright and colorful streaks are created when these elements burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere,” he continued.
Why can meteors be multi-coloured?
Depending on their constituents, meteors can burn up in a variety of colors.
A meteor’s chemical makeup can determine whether it shines blue-green, orange-yellow, or even violet.
The reason a meteor flames brilliant green or blue is because it contains magnesium.
It contains sodium in its composition if it burns orange-yellow.
It is composed of iron if it is only yellow.
It has a lot of calcium if it shines violet.
If it’s red, atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen, or flaming air plasma, are probably at blame.
How to spot the Geminids
Because the Geminids have a nearly 24-hour peak period, they can be seen both at night and before morning.
Despite this, they may still be seen outside the peak.
In the US and the UK, they go live at approximately 9 or 10 p.m. local time.
However, for a better view, Dr. Balaji advised walking outside a little later.
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Around two in the morning local time is the ideal time to see the Geminid meteor shower,” he stated. “When the radiant point is highest in the sky.”
The namesake constellation Gemini seems to be the source of these space rocks.
Try utilizing a sky map program like Night Sky if you are unable to locate Gemini in the sky.
You won’t need binoculars or a telescope because they will limit the amount of sky you can see.
However, in order to observe the fainter meteors, allow your eyes to acclimate to the darkness for at least an hour.
That entails putting down the phone.
What’s the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
What NASA says you should know is as follows…
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet:
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Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing)