ThereB次元官网网址檚 a B次元官网网址渕ust-seeB次元官网网址� celestial event set to take place next week, that is, if itB次元官网网址檚 even possible to observe it.

The Geminid meteor shower is to produce a consistent 120 meteors per hour in the night sky Dec. 13-14. The Geminids occur every year at the same time, but a key challenge with observing the B次元官网网址榝alling starsB次元官网网址� is whether or not clouds obstruct the view.

Astronomy educator and Royal Astronomical Society of Canada columnist Gary Boyle explained that meteor showers occur at the same time every year because they are usually produced by a comet that rounds the sun.

B次元官网网址淢aterial is blown off the comet when it comes close to the sun just by the solar radiation,B次元官网网址� Boyle said. B次元官网网址淓very year when we do our lap around the sun, just like a car goes around a circular racetrack, we encounter this debris.B次元官网网址�

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The Geminids are not caused by a comet, but rather by debris from an 5.8km in diameter asteroid named 3200 Phaethon.

Skipping across the EarthB次元官网网址檚 atmosphere at 36km per second, Boyle said the Geminid meteor shower is particularly good for stargazers because they are B次元官网网址渟low, graceful, bright meteors.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 something that people will remember for the rest of their lives. Nature always has a way of bringing calm and relaxation to no matter what it is,B次元官网网址� Boyle said.

Boyle said the meteors are called B次元官网网址渆arth grazersB次元官网网址� because they donB次元官网网址檛 actually enter the atmosphere.

B次元官网网址淭hey just skip along, like you skip a rock on a lake.B次元官网网址�

If the skies are clear, the other competing force to observing the shower is light pollution from cities and the moon. The moon is to be about 77 per cent lit that evening. Still, Boyle said, Canadians should be able to see some of the brighter meteors.

The best time to observe, Boyle said, is at about 12 a.m. on Dec. 14.

aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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