According to experts, geminides have the best possible conditions this year. The maximum is predicted for the night of December 13-14, specifically at 1:50 CET – at a time when the constellation of Gemini is highest above the horizon and the meteors are raining hardest in the sky. In addition, it does not disturb the Moon, which is just at night the maximum in the nova.
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“During the night (especially in the early morning hours), up to dozens of meteors per hour, up to 1000 meteors, shine over the Czech sky, far from cities producing significant light pollution,” recalls astronomer and photographer Petr Horálek.
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| Meteorological day is a phenomenon in which a stream of interplanetary dust particles (meteoroids) crosses the Earth’s orbit and these particles then rub against air molecules as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, gradually evaporating and forming a glowing trail. There are flashes, which are professionally called meteors, popularly “shooting stars” or “kites”. |
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Meteors fly numerous tens of hours before and after the maximum. The activity of the swarm has been visible since December 4, when the Earth begins to pass through a stream of meteoroids, and gradually rises over the course of days. The last swarm meteors can still be seen on December 17. Again, similar conditions will not occur until 2023.
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Maximum Geminid in 2018 above the Seč dam
Photo: Petr Horálek
“To observe the swarm, choose a place with as little disturbed trees or houses as possible for a good view, but above all as far as possible from light pollution from cities (you will also see weaker meteors). The phenomenon is best observed lying down – so we recommend a lounger or mat. During the nights of December, it is also necessary to take into account the possible occurrence of inversions, so it is best to go to the mountains, ”advises Horálek.
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Now 90 meteors / hour, but by the end of the century, the swarm may disappear
The name of the swarm Geminida comes from the Latin name of the constellation Gemini, from which meteors seem to fly out throughout the activity of the swarm. In the case of Geminid, this place – radiant – lies east of the two brightest stars in the constellation: Castor and Pollux. The constellation of Gemini and the two stars rise in the December sky already at dusk, so it can be seen all night.
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It is highest around the horizon in mid-December around 2 o’clock in the morning. Then the radiant of the swarm in our latitudes will reach a height of about 70 ° above the horizon. Thanks to this, a maximum swarm can be observed in the Czech Republic with a frequency of up to 90 meteors per hour (most meteors shine above the horizon, only a few of them below it).
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The first reports of a swarm of Geminids date back to 1862. At that time, however, the swarm was very weak, with frequencies not exceeding 30 meteors per hour. It was not until the 1940s and 1950s that the number of meteors per hour doubled and rose to current levels until 1990.
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“According to some models, this volatile swarm is at its maximum and its frequencies will decrease from year to year. By the end of the 21st century, the swarm should almost disappear, “remarked the Czech popularizer of astronomy.
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From a crumbling asteroid
The ice-dust particles, which form this celestial theater as they fly through the Earth’s atmosphere, come from the body (3200) Phaethon. While the most common parent body of meteor swarms is usually a comet, 3200 Phaethon is a crumbling asteroid. It was discovered by British astronomers Simon Green and John Davies on October 11, 1983, using the IRAS satellite.
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Maximum Geminid in 2018 above a snowy cottage in the Iron Mountains
Photo: Petr Horálek
Although no explicitly cometary activity has ever been observed, the asteroid appears more like a comet. On the one hand, its elongated orbit, in which Phaethon gets closer to the Sun than any other asteroid, and on the other hand, thanks to the swarm of Geminids. Some scientists believe that it is a fragment of the asteroid Pallas in the main belt of asteroids and that the Geminids are caused by the shattered material of this cosmic decay.
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This asteroid orbits the Sun once in less than 524 days. His last close flyby of Earth occurred on December 10, 2007, during which he passed our planet at a distance of only about 18 million kilometers. Further close flybys will take place in 2050 and 2060. “It will not be closest to Earth in this century until December 14, 2093. At that time, they will be only three million km apart from Earth. However, there is no danger of a physical collision with the Earth, “Horálek added.
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Conjunction of planets and one-day “visit” to the Moon
The observation of the phenomenon of the evening at dusk and shortly thereafter will be complemented by the rare conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn above the southwest. The planets approach each other as angularly as they last did in 1623 – and even closer in 1226.
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They will be closest to each other a week later after the Geminid maximum, on Monday, December 21, at only 6 ‘(only about one-fifth of the angular diameter of the full moon). The pair of planets will be only 10 ° above the horizon at 5 pm that day. At 6 pm, when it gets dark enough, the planets descend to a height of 3 ° above the horizon and half an hour later, at 6:30 pm, they set.
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The biggest approach to Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 – simulation image
Photo: Petr Horálek / Stellarium
In addition, on November 19, there was a close encounter between the planets Jupiter and Saturn and the Moon in the evening sky. “The next meeting of the Moon with Jupiter and Saturn will take place in the evening on December 16 and 17,” Pavel Suchan from the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic told the News. So when the weather allows, Jupiter and Saturn above the southwest are observable daily, but together close to each other and to the Moon until December 16.
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The closest approach of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 when viewed through a telescope – a simulation image
Photo: Petr Horálek / Stellarium
A similar conjunction of these two planets is also considered by astronomers to be the probable origin of the Star of Bethlehem in 7 BC Saturn is considered the “Star of the Jews”, Jupiter to be the royal one, the two planets were then close to each other in the Jewish constellation Pisces. behind.
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