Winter for skywatchers treated as these meteors sparkle in the sky December (science daily)

PharmaLive.com (December 10, 2010) - on the evening of 13 and on the morning of December 14, in the whole of the northern hemisphere skywatchers will recover the meteor shower these reaches its peak, in one of the best sky events night of the year. And unlike many astronomical phenomena, meteors are better seen without a telescope, and are perfectly safe to watch it).

At its peak and clear, dark sky up to 100 "shooting stars" or meteors may be visible each time. Meteors are the result of small particles in the atmosphere at combustion at high speed and super-heating air autour, which shines like a bunch of short characteristic of light. In this case debris are associated to the object astéroïdale 3200 Phaethon, many astronomers believe a comet disappeared.

Meteors appear to come from a "radiant" in the constellation Gemini, hence the name of these. 0200 GMT on December 14, the radiant is near overhead to United Kingdom, making it ideally placed for British observers. At this time first quarter moon have developed so the prospects for a good view of the shower are excellent.

Under the shower Meteors from these are less well known, probably because the weather in December is less reliable. But those who brave the cold can be rewarded with a beautiful view. In comparison with other showers, these meteors travel quite slowly, about 35 km (22 miles) per second, are bright and have a yellowish tinge, making it easy to identify and separate.

This year, the peak of the Geminid meteor shower occurs at 1100 GMT on 14 December autour, but the higher level activity is spread over a period of hard one day or more. This means that if the conditions are clear, it is interesting to observe at all times between Sunday night and Wednesday morning.

As with most astronomical events, the best place to see meteors is dark sites away from the light pollution of cities and villages. Weather, rural as forest park sky dark Galloway Scotland sites (where a planned meteorwatch held on 13 and 14 December) are potentially excellent places to see the shower of these.

Warning: the views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those PharmaLive.com or its staff.

Source of the story:

The story above is reproduced (with drafting adaptations by staff at PharmaLive.com) materials provided by Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited for this.