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The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to reach its peak on Friday night and into Saturday morning, with up to 120 meteors per hour, or about two per minute. Though a nearly full moon may hamper viewing (it’s best if the sky is as dark as possible) it’s still the best chance to take a look.
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What is the Geminid meteor shower?
Meteor showers are annual events in which the Earth passes through a stream of cosmic debris, most of it consisting of particles the size of a grain of sand or smaller. As they pass through our atmosphere they burn up, causing fiery streaks in the sky. The Geminids are named after the constellation Gemini, which is roughly the direction from which they appear to originate, in the south-eastern sky.
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Although the Geminids have been observed as far back as 1862, it wasn’t until 1983 that astronomers discovered an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, which is now thought to be the shower’s “parent body” — i.e., where all that cosmic debris comes from. The Geminids are unusual in this respect, since most meteor showers have a comet as their parent body.
What’s the best way to see it?
The best thing about meteor showers is that you don’t need any special equipment to view them. (The worst thing is that it can be cold outside.) The constellation of Gemini will be high in the south-eastern sky after midnight, which is the best viewing time. If you can find the three stars in Orion’s belt, look to the east (or left) and a little higher in the sky. That’s roughly where the meteors will be coming from.
It’s best to give your eyes time to adjust to the dark, to get as far from city lights as possible, and to bundle up against the weather.
And while Dec. 13/14 represents the peak viewing time, there are expected to be smaller numbers of meteors even a week after that date.
Do the Geminids only strike Earth?
No; Geminids and other meteoroids also strike the moon, but with a very different effect. Because the moon has no atmosphere, there’s no fiery streak as they slow down and burn up. Instead, they slam into our satellite at speeds greater than 30 kilometres per second, creating a flash of light and a small crater.
Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, has captured several meteoroid strikes on the moon, the latest from several days ago and believed to be part of the Geminid meteor shower.
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Is the International Space Station at risk?
Not especially. Despite its large size by human standards (more than 100 metres long, and with as much living space as a five-bedroom house), it’s tiny by cosmic standards, and unlikely to be struck by a meteoroid large enough to do any damage.
Besides, it’s protected by shielding known as a Whipple bumper, invented by astronomer Fred Whipple. (Coincidentally, he also figured out that 3200 Phaethon was the parent body of the Geminids.)
That’s not to say there isn’t any danger, but meteor showers don’t raise the omnipresent risk of a meteoroid strike by much. The Hubble Space Telescope, however, makes sure not to look directly into a meteor shower, lest it get a meteoroid in the eye.
The only satellite known to have been taken out by a meteoroid strike was Olympus-1, a telecommunications satellite that was struck by a meteor during the Perseid shower of August 1993. The impact sent the satellite into a spin, and it ran out of fuel trying to regain control.
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