The Leonids’ radiant is the constellation Leo, which rises round midnight native time and is highest within the sky round daybreak.
The Geminids (December)
The Geminids are energetic from about December 4 to December 17, peaking in a single day from December 13 to December 14. They’ve a pointy peak, so the night time of the thirteenth is the very best time for skywatching.
The Geminids are probably the most spectacular meteor bathe of the yr. Along with boasting as much as 120 and even 150 meteors per hour throughout its peak, this meteor bathe can also be the brightest and most colourful of the yr.
The Geminids are vibrant, slow-moving meteors that always have yellow tones, however they could be a vary of different colours, together with inexperienced, blue, white, pink, or orange. And in contrast to most meteors, that are attributable to comet particles, the Geminids are the remnant of an asteroid.
The night time that the Geminids peak, their radiant, the constellation Gemini, might be above the horizon all night time and can attain its highest level round 2 am native time, so meteors might be seen virtually the entire night time.
That very same night time, the moon might be about 32 p.c illuminated and can rise round 1:30 am within the japanese US, so in case you watch this bathe shortly after midnight, the moonlight gained’t intervene along with your viewing expertise.
The Ursids (December)
The Ursids are energetic round December 17 to December 26, peaking within the early morning hours of December 22. This meteor bathe is much less energetic than others, sometimes yielding about 10 meteors per hour; nonetheless, viewing situations might be good for skywatching. The moon will set at roughly 6 pm within the japanese US on the twenty first, so no moonlight will intervene with this meteor bathe.
Though the Ursids sometimes produce probably the most meteors simply earlier than daybreak, when its radiant, the Little Dipper (or Ursa Minor), is highest within the sky, it is possible for you to to see meteors all through the whole night time throughout this bathe’s peak. In northern latitudes the Ursids’ radiant is above the horizon all night time.
Showers to Look Out for Subsequent 12 months
The Quadrantids (January)
The Quadrantids happen in December and January and peak in the course of the first week of the yr. This meteor bathe has a pointy peak, which means that the majority of its exercise happens in a slim window of time. The Quadrantids sometimes produce many fireball meteors—that’s, meteors which are very vibrant—with as much as 120 meteors per hour in the course of the bathe’s peak.
