By
Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer Space.Com
 The
annual Geminid meteor shower, an oddball among such events, peaks
Wednesday December 13. Though a bright Moon will outshine many
of the shooting stars, scientists say the Geminids are still worth
a look.
But you'll
want to get up early.
This shower,
typically one of the best of the year, runs from December 7-17.
The hourly rate at the peak can be as high as 120 meteors per
hour.
Unfortunately,
the full Moon on December 11 will drown out many of the Geminids.
Still, the peak nights of activity on December 12-13 and 13-14
could yield as many as 20 to 30 meteors per hour in rural areas
away from bright lights.
The best time
to watch, according to NASA, is before dawn Wednesday. Face south
to watch the show. Meteors can be anywhere in the sky, but will
streak away from a point in the constellation Gemini, well above
the southern horizon. This point in the sky is called the radiant.
While the shooting stars can appear anywhere, their trails will
point back toward the radiant.
But early
morning hours aren't the only time you can see meteors.
"The
Geminid meteor shower is often the most spectacular meteor display
of the year," says Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor
Society. "It is also one of the few major annual displays
that can be seen during the evening hours."
Lunsford recommends
watching for Geminids before moonrise on the evening of the 13th
or watching early in the morning on the 13th and 14th.
Oddball
among meteor showers
Most meteor
showers are caused when Earth passes through a stream of dust
and debris left behind by a comet. But the Geminids are enigmatic.
"The
Geminids are a mystery," says Brian Marsden of the Minor
Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"Most meteoroids that we know of come from comets. They are
set free by solar vaporization of [cometary] ice. Geminid meteoroids,
on the other hand, appear to come from 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid.
We're not sure why an asteroid should have a debris trail, but
this one does."
Another
shower in January
The Quadrantid
meteor shower runs from January 1-5 and peaks on Wednesday, January
3. The Moon will cooperate with this shower, and it is expected
to be worth braving the cold for.
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