The Geminid meteor shower is set to make its 2012 debut tonight.
The meteor shower, also scheduled to be the last meteor shower of 2012, will appear overnight starting at 10 p.m. local time with a peak time of 2 a.m. where at least 120 meteors are expected to scatter the night sky, that's at least two meteors per minute.
As they do with most meteor events, NASA will be hosting a Q&A session for the online community regarding the meteor shower.
NASA will also provide live streaming of the Geminid meteor shower from a camera at their Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Geminid meteors originate from a three-mile wide asteroid titled 3200 Phaethon but was named after the constellation Gemini, since it falls near one of its primary stars named Castor, according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, Geminid might not be the only object in space making an appearance this week.
According to NASA, the comet Wirtanen, discovered in 1948, is expected to streak through Earth's orbit between now and Dec. 14.
"Dust from this comet hitting Earth's atmosphere could produce as many as 30 meteors per hour," said NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office Director Bill Cooke, who will also be involved in tonight's Q&A session.
The meteor shower coming from the Wirtanen doesn't have a name yet as astronomers will have to wait to see if it is real, according to NASA's Dr. Tony Phillips.
NASA added that if Wirtanen does indeed create a meteor shower, then it is likely to be named "Piscids."
"The shower's radiant is located in the constellation Pisces, according to Maslov's dynamical models of the debris stream," noted Dr. Phillips. "Maslov also predicts that the meteors will be very slow moving, which should help novice sky watchers distinguish them from the faster Geminids.
Therefore, stargazers might witness two types of meteor showers, the Gemind and the unnamed meteor showers.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
