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There is no cold, only poor clothing choices. (Illustration by Creators.com)
I was already an adult before considering spending an entire night outdoors during the month of December. Once I moved to a more temperate climate from the east coast, however, I did so often.
Because? Because I’ve learned two things since then.
First, there is no cold, only poor clothing choices. When I was young, my parents insisted that I had to wear a thick coat to be warm. Not true. The secret is to dress in layers of loose fabrics that trap body heat.
I now spend many winter nights every year under the stars and the Northern Lights of the Arctic, where nighttime temperatures can plummet well below zero degrees, never a problem if I dress properly. To find out more about the subject, do a Google search on a phrase like “dressing for the cold” and you will find many great suggestions.
My second discovery was also shocking. I had always believed that the best meteor shower of the year was the Perseids of mid-August. Not true.
Sure, the Perseids get all the media and create a fantastic sky show, but that’s because they occur during the summer when people are more inclined to spend their nights outdoors. If you believe it too, check out the mid-December Geminids just once and I bet you’ll change your mind.
During the Perseid rain, sky watchers can often expect to spot 50 or 60 meteors (aka shooting stars and shooting stars) per hour, not a bad number in anyone’s book.
But during a typical Geminid shower, the hourly numbers can go as high as 100 or 120. Most impressive is that Geminids often produce brilliant fireballs that can light up the sky, cast a shadow, and sometimes even leave a smoky trail. behind. You can use binoculars to watch the remnants of these trails for several minutes as they twist and turn in the upper atmospheric air currents.
The Geminid meteors will appear in the sky, but if I were to trace their paths backwards, those associated with the rain will all appear to radiate from a point within the constellation of Gemini.
This “radiant”, as it is called, lies just west of the bright star Castor. During mid-December, Northern Hemisphere astronomers will notice Castor and Gemini rising above the east-northeast horizon during the early evening hours.
This year, the number of Geminids is expected to peak during the hours before sunrise on Monday, December 14, when Earth collides head-on with the meteor shower left by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
Star watchers who don’t like to gaze into such ungodly hours will be happy to know that you will likely see some beautiful Geminids before midnight for a few nights before and after the 14th.
To see the shower, I recommend that you dress in layers, step away from the city lights, lie down on a sleeping bag or garden chair, and scan the entire sky with your eyes. And don’t forget a thermos of hot chocolate to make the spectacle of the sky even more enjoyable.
If you do these things, I bet you too will find that the Geminids are the best meteor shower of the year.
– Dennis Mammana is an astronomy writer, author, lecturer and photographer working under the clear, dark skies of the Anza-Borrego Desert in the San Diego County Outback. Contact him at [email protected] and connect with him on Facebook: @dennismammana. Click here to read the previous columns. The views expressed are his.
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