Gemini Sky

In Meteors by Brian Koberlein2 Comments

The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight into Monday morning. If you have a chance, you should really check them out. It’s best to have a western view, and they tend to peak between midnight and 2:00 am.

Their name derives from the fact that they seem to come from the direction of Gemini. Like other meteor showers, the Geminids are the debris trail of a comet. In this case a rock comet known as Phaethon. Phaethon is more asteroid-like than comet-like in many ways, and as a result the Geminids are consistently good meteor showers.

Comments

  1. I saw a few, but skies were mostly crap over here, with stars hiding behind a thin overcast. Earlier this year, the Taurids produced an amazing amount of fireballs. By some accounts, it was a record.

  2. I saw a Geminid bolide moving from west to east several years ago, although I didn’t hear anything.

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