William Atkins
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 20:31
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 4
North Americans and others across the Northern Hemisphere will get a treat in the December night sky, and this time it’s not Santa Claus. The Geminid meteor shower will peak on December 13-14, 2009 (depending on your locale) with around 140 meteors per hour.
It’s already bitterly cold this December across much of the United States and Canada, but if you can withstand the frigid weather you should be in for a treat when the Geminids peak in mid-December.
The Geminids will be visible for most of the Northern Hemisphere during its December 2009 appearance--that is, if the weather cooperates with clear skies (ya never know).
Unfortunately, people in the Southern Hemisphere will only be able to see a much reduced number of meteors as part of the Geminids.
According to the 10-19-2009 NASA media brief “
The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower,” Bill Cooke, lead astronomer at the Meteoroid Environment Office (
MEO) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, states,
"It's the Geminid meteor shower, and it will peak on Dec. 13th and 14th under ideal viewing conditions."
However, you should also be able to see meteors from December 6th to 19th, only not so many when compared to its peak time.
During this peak time the Geminids are noted for producing differently colored meteors, sometimes up to sixty different colors in an hour.
The colors of meteors may differ due to the chemical makeup of each individual object.
Page two describes the different colors that can be produced by the meteors, and why.
