The night sky in Ukraine will soon be illuminated by one of the most spectacular meteor showers, the Geminids. The peak of this meteor shower activity falls on the night of December 13-14. According to forecasts, up to 150 meteors per hour will be visible during the maximum, weather permitting.
This year, the peak of the Geminid meteor shower will coincide with about 90% illumination of the Waxing Moon, and the full moon will be just a few days away, on December 15. According to the American Meteor Society, with no interfering moonlight, up to 150 meteors per hour can be seen in the sky during peak times.
Unlike most meteor showers we see on Earth, the Geminids are the product of an asteroid, not a comet. The powerful stream produces bright meteors associated with the asteroid Phaethon, a blue rock that looks like a comet.
The Geminids are considered one of the best meteor showers each year because the individual meteors are bright and arrive quickly.
The Geminid meteor shower is known to be nearly 200 years old. It was first seen in 1833 from a riverboat on the Mississippi River. The shower actually gets stronger over time. According to NASA astronomer Bill Cook during a “NASA Chat” discussion, this is because Jupiter’s gravity has been pulling a stream of particles from the source of the shower, asteroid 3200 Phaethon, closer to Earth for centuries.
The Geminid meteors are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere, but they are also visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
The Geminid meteor shower is named after the constellation from which the meteors themselves emerge.
From Earth's perspective, the Geminid meteor shower originates from approximately the direction of the constellation Gemini. The constellation Gemini is quite visible in the night sky because it is located northeast of the constellation Orion, between the constellations Taurus and Cancer.
But in order to see the Geminid meteor shower, it is not necessary to look for the constellation Gemini in the night sky, as the shooting stars will be visible in the night sky.
The Geminids are associated with the near-Earth object 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid that may have collided with another object in the distant past, creating a stream of particles. This asteroid behaves like a comet and orbits the Sun every 1.4 years. As Earth passes through the debris left behind by 3200 Phaethon, the “asteroid debris” heats up as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up in bright flashes of light.
