Thinking about trying to see some meteors tonight? Don't bother--despite the press about the Leonids (which are spectacular when they are at storm levels), they are normally a rather plain meteor shower. Bundle your blankets, grab your thermal underwear, and wait for the Geminids, a meteor shower on Dec 14th. They are reliably the second best meteor shower annually, just behind the Perseids, which we all love since it's in mid-August. Just get out of town away from light pollution, or otherwise you will be wasting your sky-viewing.
The neat thing about the Geminids is they appear to come from an asteroid-- (3200) Phaeton, rather than a known comet. The simple implication is that Phaeton is just a dead comet, a dehydrated pebble pile.
2 comments:
And on the 14th you and I will conveniently be located in the dark skies of Arizona.
I should note this is the night of the 13th, morning of the 14th.
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