Join the World in Looking for Geminids This Weekend with #MeteorWatch
Written by Nancy Atkinson
Amateur astronomers around the world will be watching for what is predicted to be one of the year's best meteor showers, the Geminids. Join in and make it a global experience with another #Meteorwatch on Twitter. #Meteorwatch, which occurred during the Perseid meteor shower in mid-August, is a social media astronomical event that was a big hit among Twitterers. But there's lots of ways to join in, not only on Twitter. Everyone is welcome whether they are an astronomer or just have an interest in the night sky. The aim is to get as many people to look up as possible and maybe see meteors or even some fireballs for the first time.
Headed by Adrian West (@AdrianWest), the @NewburyAS Twitter account is the central hub. During #MeteorWatch, look/search for Tweets with the #Moonwatch hashtag to see images and information or have your questions answered.
Watch the video above for more information, or just go to Twitter and follow @AdrianWest, the @NewburyAS, or others listed in the video.
You can also get #Meteorwatch updates on Astronomy.fm which will be featuring "MeteorWatch Central", Sunday night, Dec 13/14, with live imaging of deep sky objects in Gemini, as well as all-sky meteor watching, meteor-Ping listening, live call-in meteor-watching updates, and audio/visual presentations that will give you tips on meteors and meteor watching. Amateur astronomers around the world will be watching what is predicted to be one of the year's best meteor showers, the Geminids. Join in and make it a global experience with another #Meteorwatch on Twitter.
The shower's peak is around 05:00 Universal Time on the morning of December 14, but shooting stars should be visible for a night or perhaps two either side of this time. It is difficult to accurately predict how many streaks will be visible, but estimates place the figure as high as 100 to 120 per hour for observers under completely dark skies during the peak of activity. This number will drop dramatically if light pollution becomes a factor, but bright trails should still be visible.
Filed under: Astronomy, Meteor Showers
Tags: geminid meteor shower, Meteor ShowersComment policy: Be nice and brief. Don't advertise your stuff, or promote your personal theories. We'll delete any comments that break these policies. Click here for more details.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Yeah, I'm looking up……at the bottom of cumulus clouds in central Florida. Not even a sucker hole!
Hopefully, the events noted in your article will get many newcomers to take a look at the night sky.
Btw, Marshall Space Flight Center has a live-feed from an all-sky cam in Huntsville, Alabama along with meteor-ping audio. I've seen three 'virtual' meteors in the past 40 minutes, better than the real thing at this point!
December 12th, 2009 at 3:10 am
It's a great trailer. One correction: the source of the Geminids isn't a comet, but an asteroïd: 3200 Phaethon.
December 12th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Right now things are pretty overcast, and tomorrow is expected to bring more of the same, sigh
LC
December 12th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Just took out the camera, and its perfectly clear skies where i am : )
December 12th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
"One correction: the source of the Geminids isn't a comet, but an asteroïd: 3200 Phaethon."
Actually, some scientists do believe that 3200 Phaethon is a dormant comet, so "comet" is not an entirely incorrect description.
Other scientists lean toward an asteroid that experienced a collision with another object some 1000-2000 yrs ago (thus the Geminids stream).
Either way, it is a fascinating object!
December 13th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Clear skies over Paris last night: Isaw one around 3 am just looking from the window, so I decided to brave the cold and walk out. No luck.
Even in relatively open areas, the amount of city lights is one staggering heap of uselessness, there's no way to not have one glaring into your eye from 20m away whichever way you're facing.
Back home in some frustration…
December 13th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
21:00 to 22:00 gmt
Seeing magnitude 5 with light wisps of mist about
Elevation 175 metres above sea level
Location Southern Ireland
count 99
First 30 minutes many to the left of the radiant (ursa major area)
Next 30 minutes mainly to the right if the radiant (orion area)
sometimes In bursts of 3 or 4 with lots of bright trail blazers
1 large with explosive burst of red and orange no sound (near ursa major) about 21:45gmt
Great night here guys and girls
December 15th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
22:15 to 22:30 Z time
6805 Ft Elev. Santa Fe, New Mexico, U. S. of A.
35d 40' 040" N X 105d 58' 46.5" W
Two very thin, dim tracks about width of gemini right next to mars or toward SE and about a minute apart. Maybe 10 minutes later had two bright green (fuzzy) going low and slow toward SE maybe one or two seconds apart followed by a third, smaller, thinner and much shorter path greeny lower in the sky and a little further south.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
correction!!! that should have been 12:15Z