Space News: December brings the Geminids and a visible comet
- Jane Houston Jones
- Posted On
What's up for December? High rates for the Geminid meteor shower and a visible comet.
This month’s Geminid meteors peak on the morning of Dec. 14 at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time or 4:30 a.m. Pacific and are active from Dec. 4 through the 17. The peak lasts for a full 24 hours, meaning meteor watchers around the globe will get to see this spectacle.
If you can see the familiar winter constellations Orion and Gemini in the sky, you'll see some Geminids. Expect to see up to 120 meteors per hour from a dark sky location but only after the first quarter moon sets around midnight your local time. From the Southern Hemisphere, observers should see fewer but still plenty of medium-speed meteors once Gemini rises above the horizon after midnight local time.
The best observing equipment for meteor watching is a comfortable chair and your eyes.
Comet 46P/Wirtanen started to brighten last month but it will be easier to see in December. It's a short-period comet with an orbital period of only 5.4 years. It's diameter is estimated to be three quarters of a mile or 1.2 kilometers across.
On Dec. 16, 46P will be only 7.2 million miles or 11.7 million kilometers from Earth and will reach an estimated naked-eye magnitude of 3 to 7.5.
Catch your last view of Saturn for several months when it's near the Moon at sunset Dec. 8 through 10. Then Mars meets up with the Moon Dec. 13 through 15.
From Dec. 24 to 26, catch the Moon above, near, and below Leo's bright white star Regulus. Year-end brings the Moon near Virgo's pretty white star Spica from Dec. 29 through 31.
Remember, you can catch up on all of NASA's current and future missions at: www.nasa.gov .
Jane Houston Jones works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.