One of the most productive meteor showers of the year will peak this weekend in BC, offering a full night of dazzling shooting stars.
While it has been visible all week, the Geminid meteor shower will be at its most spectacular throughout the night on Dec. 13 and into the morning of Dec. 14.
It is most visible at 2 a.m. wherever you are in the Northern Hemisphere, but meteors are visible starting at about 10 p.m. On a dark night near the peak upwards of 50 meteors will be visible in the night sky per hour. On a perfect night, without a moon, you could see 150 meteors an hour.
The Geminids look the best at 2 a.m. because that is when the shower’s radiant point — the point in the sky where the meteors seem to radiate — is at its highest in the sky. Earthsky.org says the higher the constellation Gemini the Twins is in the sky, the more meteors you will see.
Brighter display every year
Nearly 200 years old old, the Geminid Meteor showers offers earthlings a brighter display every year (depending on the moonlight, of course). Space.com says that this is due to the fact that Jupiter's titanic gravitational pull has brought the stream of particles from the, "shower's source, the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, and closer to Earth over the centuries."
Locals will also be able to catch some of the astral magic in the days leading up to the shower’s peak, as well as in the days right after.
Stargazers should opt to travel as far away from city lights as possible in order to avoid light pollution that will obscure the clarity of heavenly bodies. While this works best in more remote places, anywhere that has a higher elevation will also provide more ideal viewing conditions.
If you are going to try to catch the show, give yourself at least an hour, as it takes your eyes about 20 minutes to adapt to the dark.
The weather will of course need to cooperate through, with Environment Canada currently calling for cloudy periods on Sunday night.
with files from Vancouver is Awesome
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiOWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNhc3RhbmV0Lm5ldC9lZGl0aW9uL25ld3Mtc3RvcnktMzE5MDYwLTMtLmh0bdIBAA?oc=5
2020-12-11 23:39:00Z
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