Topic: Geminid Meteor Shower

NASA reports Geminid Meteor Shower to peak December 13th and 14th

December 11, 2017 |

Written by Molly Porter
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Huntsville, AL – Maybe you’ve already seen a bright meteor streak across the December sky? The annual Geminid meteor shower has arrived. It’s a good time to bundle up, go outside and let the universe blow your mind!

“With August’s Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year,” said Bill Cooke with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “The thin, waning crescent Moon won’t spoil the show.”

A Geminid meteor. (Image credit: Jimmy Westlake)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA says look to the skies Saturday night for the Geminid Meteor Shower

December 14, 2013 |

Written by Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – As arctic air and record cold sweeps across the USA, amateur astronomers are looking at their calendars with a degree of trepidation. A date is circled: December 14th. And below it says: “Wake up at 4:00am for the Geminid meteor shower.”

“It’s going to be cold,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “But that is the best time to see the 2013 Geminid meteor shower.”

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA says look at the skies December 13th-14th for annual Geminid Meteor Shower

December 8, 2013 |

Huntsville, AL – The annual Geminid meteor shower will peak on the night of December 13th-14th, 2013. NASA astronomer Bill Cooke, along with Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw from his team of experts, will be on hand to answer questions via a live web chat on December 13th from 10:00pm until 2:00am CST.

A live Ustream feed of the skies over NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will also be embedded on this page on the night of the chat.

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s STEREO probes discovers Rock Comet’s Tail

November 28, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Astronomers have long been puzzled by a certain meteor shower.

Every year in mid-December the sky fills with flashes of light shooting out of the constellation Gemini. The Geminids are fast, bright, and reliable. They never fail to show up and many observers count them as the finest meteors of the year.

But where do they come from? That is the puzzle.

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA reports Comet Wirtanen could produce New Meteor Shower in December on the same nights as Geminid Meteor Shower

December 12, 2012 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – If you’re outdoors after sunset this week, be alert for meteors. Not only is the Geminid meteor shower active as Earth passes through a stream of debris from “rock comet” 3200 Phaethon, but also, say forecasters, a new meteor shower could make an appearance.

“The source of the new shower is Comet Wirtanen,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “Dust from this comet hitting Earth’s atmosphere could produce as many as 30 meteors per hour.”

Comet Wirtanen. (Photo Max-Planck-Institut f|r Aeronomie, courtesy T. Credner, J. Jockers, T.Bonev)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA reports Geminid Meteor Shower to peak on December 13th and 14th

December 10, 2012 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Every year in mid-December, astronomers look up in the sky and witness a mystery. It announces itself with a flurry of shooting stars. For several nights in a row, dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour cut across the glistening constellations of winter, each one a little puzzle waiting to be solved.

“It’s the Geminid meteor shower–set to peak on December 13th and 14th,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “Although the Geminids come every year, we still don’t fully understand them.”

«Read the rest of this article»

Quadrantids Will Create Brief, Beautiful Show on January 4th

December 27, 2011 |

Written by Janet Anderson
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Huntsville, AL – The 2012 Quadrantids, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with some late-night meteor watching.

Peaking in the wee morning hours of January 4th, the Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3:00am local time, leaving about two hours of excellent meteor observing before dawn. It’s a good thing, too, because unlike the more famous Perseid and Geminid meteor showers, the Quadrantids only last a few hours — it’s the morning of January 4th, or nothing.

False-color image of a rare early Quadrantid, captured by a NASA meteor camera in 2010. (NASA/MSFC/MEO/B. Cooke)

«Read the rest of this article»

© 2006-2021 Clarksville, TN Online is owned and operated by residents of Clarksville Tennessee.
» We are Hosted by Compu-Net Enterprises; In Partnership with Discover Clarksville and Discover Paris