Cosmic fireworks will enthral sky gazers tomorrow night as the Geminids meteor shower will be at its peak.
"Astro lovers are expected to see shooting stars whizzing past in the skies as the Geminid meteor showers will be seen on the night of December 13 and 14, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) President C B Devgun told PTI.
The Geminids are known for producing up to 60 multi-coloured meteors per hour at their peak, he saidThe best time to view the shower is on December 14 at 5 AM in the east. And the good news is that in 2012, the moon will be in a new moon phase, so there will be no moon to ruin the show.
One of the most spectacular meteor showers, Geminids, never seems to disappoint sky observers, he said, adding, as the point of origin of the shower lies in the direction of the constellation of Gemini, they have been named Geminids.
Geminids have another interesting fact. The source of the meteor shower is not a comet but a rocky asteroid named 3,200 Phaethon, which is in a highly elliptical 1.4 year orbit.
The usual meteors do not leave glowing trails but the brighter ones can have a yellow, green or blue hue, Devgun said.
Meteors are startling streaks of light that suddenly appear in the sky when a dust particle from outer space evaporates high in the earth's atmosphere.
The light phenomenon in the atmosphere is called a "meteor", while the dust particle is called a "meteoroid". When the number of meteors is large, it is called a meteor shower or meteor storm. The shower always happen on a particular day or a time period as it is associated usually with comets.
No comments:
Post a Comment