The month of December is traditionally remembered as a very festive month. As Christmas is just around the corner, streets are filled up with colorful lights while people, mostly children, roam around the streets to sing Christmas carols. Little does anyone know that one thing is happening in December: the annual event of the Geminids meteor shower has the most number of meteors streaking across the sky compared to the other meteor showers for the year. It is often disregarded and left unwatched.
The celestial event will reach its peak from December 13th - 14th, but one could see Geminid meteors as early as a week before the peak, and a few days after. At maximum, there will be an average of 20 visible meteors per hour but that is an ideal count considering various factors such as one's geographical location. If one lives within an urban and suburban environment, light pollution is a very evident problem as it obscures faint sources of light from the sky. Another problem would be the moon as it reaches its waxing gibbous phase at the same date of the peak, an addition to the obstruction of faint light.
The event is called “Geminids” as it seem to radiate from the constellation Gemini. It doesn't necessarily mean that the heavenly bodies emanate from the stars of the constellation, but rather the streak or path of the meteors are simply in line with our point of view of the Gemini. This constellation would appear on our local sky around 9:00 PM / 21:00 nearly above the horizon. It would rise from the east and sail across the sky towards west/north west. Although Gemini would appear as early as 9:00 PM/ 21:00 it doesn't mean that it is the hour of the peak but it often happens around or past midnight. It would also be beneficial for the observing public as there will be fewer artificial light sources that are open at this time except for, probably, street lights.
One doesn't need any tool to observe meteors. Just a basic knowledge of the night sky and enough patience, it is an event that can make December more memorable for the public.
Image source: www.utexas.edu
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