Bright moon washes out 2008 Geminid meteors
Image created by NASA
Saturday, December 13, 2008.
The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak tonight.
The Geminids usually rank as one of the best meteor showers for the year in both hemispheres. But this year the nearly full moon will wash out all but the brightest Geminid meteors from view. If you’re a diehard meteor watcher, you can try observing between midnight and dawn. But don’t expect to see many – if any – Geminid meteors in 2008.
The Geminid meteor shower will be better next year. This meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini the Twins. If you trace the paths of all the Geminid meteors backward, they appear to radiate from the same point in front of Gemini. This point is called the meteor shower radiant.
Not far from the moon tonight, you’ll see two bright stars close together. They are Castor and Pollux, Gemini’s two brightest stars. In other words, the moon is right on top of the Geminid radiant tonight. Castor, the fainter of these two stars, nearly aligns with the radiant point of the Geminid shower.
Most meteor showers take place when our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of a comet. The comet debris plunges into Earth’s upper atmosphere and the vaporizing particles fill the night with meteors. But the Geminid meteor shower appears to be an oddity. The shower’s parent body looks more like an asteroid rather than a comet.
DO you think it is worth trying to watch the showers this year? We live at the highest peak in Middlesexx county in MA but don’t want to wake the gang for nothing like we did this past summer.
Thanks a bunch
Sharon,
Watching meteors is a lot like fishing. You never know for sure how many you’ll catch. But the nearly full moon will wash out many Geminids, so you might want to try your luck with the upcoming Quadrantid shower in early January instead. Read Will you see the meteor shower this weekend?
Bruce
Will the New Year Quadrantid shower be visible in Pennsylvania?
If there was any meteors, would it be good to look around 2:30 in the moring? Will the next meteor shower be visible in Pennsylvania? Thanks for your help
Dawn & Joe,
All of the northern hemisphere is fine for watching the December Geminids – that is, if the moon doesn’t wash these meteors from the sky. Unfortunately, the moon is a factor in 2009, but give it a try if you want, in the wee hours after midnight. The next major shower after the Geminids is the Janaury Quadrantids. Pennsylvania and the northern states should be in a decent position to watch the Quadrantids, though the viewing is likely to be better farther north, like in Canada and Alaska! Enclosed is a preview of the Janaury 2, 2009 EarthSky Tonight Quadrantid meteors before dawn on January 3,4.
Bruce
Will the 2008 Geminid metero shower be visible from Toronto, Canada?
WILL THE 2008 GEMINID METERO SHOWER BE VISIBLE FROM MIAMI, FLORIDA?
Pat & ARELYS,
The Geminid meteor shower is visible from all of the United States and the northern hemisphere. This year, however, the nearly full moon will wash all but the brightest Geminid meteors from view.
Thanks for this info. I live in Los Angeles, what will be the best time to view The Geminid meteor shower? I heard the peak time will be around 2AM. Does that mean 12/13 NIGHT, which is 12/14 MID NIGHT?
Kenny,
The greatest number of Geminid meteors are expected to fall on the night of December 13-14. That’s the evening of December 13 and the wee hours after midnight on December 14. The meteor shower radiant climbs highest in the sky at about 2 in the morning. All other things being equal, more meteors tend fall as the radiant climbs upward in the sky. For more on the Geminid radiant, read Bright moon near Geminid meteor radiant.
Bruce
It is a real shame that the moon will ruin the peak tonight. Last year I saw the shower and it was excellent, but I cannot do that this year I guess.
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great info…every question I had, you already posted the answer!
Last night even with a bright moon I observed 12 to 13 bright meteors in 30 minutes.This was a better rate than last years shower.I was out looking at about 1:00 am.It was great.
I have to say that even with the full moon we saw some beautiful meteors tonight in the San Francisco Bay area. Sitting in the hot tub with the moon behind us made them easier to spot. We didn’t even know about the shower but when one sees 4 shooting stars in a row in 40 mnutes, we figured something was up and came here to check it out!
I had no idea this meteor shower was suppose to occur tonight. At about 2245 here in So Cal, my wife and I were leaving a party. As we were walking to our car I spotted a meteor. A friend said, he had seen one earlier in the night in the backyard, I thought hmmmm, two in one night….must be something going on. We watched from the street (in a very bright area, with a very bright moon and stars – but CLEAR sky) and proceeded to be treated to a wonderful show. We watched for about 10 minutes, the first 5 minutes we saw 6 meteors (I spotted 4 of them), then it seemed to shut off….and we didnt see anymore the next 5 minutes, so we drove home. Two of the ones I saw were spectacular. It looked as though they were dropping straight down, from very close in the sky, with large “explosions.” We were in the San Fernando Valley. Anyhow, I have seen a few meteor showers and the few I saw tonight were spectacular. Hope others had similar luck.
It was cloudy here in northern New York, but I’m glad so many people elsewhere had good luck seeing this year’s Geminid meteor show. Think what it would have been like had the moon been absent from the sky! If it’s clear, I’ll watch out for these Geminid meteors tonight (Sunday, December 14).
Bruce
I was driving back from tennis last night 11:12 PM and saw something very bright traveling from the top of my windshield to the horizon. It seemed to be traveling slightly slower and appears larger then a shooting star. Would this be a meteor? (Saturday Dec 13 2008)
I saw just one huge fireball last night in the sky. I wasnt looking for it. Just happened to look at the window at the time. I live on the North shore in MA. I mean it freaked me out. It was big and moved slowly across the sky. Big bright orange. I just gasped wow! Thank god I found that it was Geminid’s meteor shower. I thought I was going nuts!
woah I just saw the biggest shooting star and very close and the trejectory almost looked like it was going to hit the atlantic, It was bright flourescent green in color, over Miami Florida at around 4:55 pm