New Delhi: Widely recognized as the best annual meteor shower a star gazer can see, the Geminids are ready to shine the skies tonight with their impressive meteor shower tonight. Occurring between December 4 and December 17, the Geminid meteor shower will peak this year on the night of December 13 and the early hours of December 14. Also Read: Bingo Says Ranveer Singh Ad Fired A Year Ago After SSR Fans Trending #BoycottBingo About ‘Photon’ Reference
The Geminids’ father is 3200 Phaethon, which could be said to be an extinct asteroid or comet. When Earth passes through trails of dust, or meteoroids, left behind by 3,200 Phaethon, that dust burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, creating the Geminid meteor shower. The Geminid rate will be even better this year, as the peak of the shower overlaps with a near-new Moon, so there will be darker skies and no moonlight to knock out weaker meteors. Also read: The Earth and the Moon shared the same magnetic field 3.5 billion years ago, protecting the atmosphere
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The director of the West Bengal MP’s Birla Planetarium and well-known astrophysicist Debiprasad Duari said the Geminid meteor shower can be seen from anywhere in India if sky conditions are favorable.
When to see the Geminid meteor shower in India
The spectacular Geminid meteor shower peaks this year on the night of December 13 around 1 to 2 a.m. And, as reports suggest, 2 a.m. will be the best time to witness the meteor shower. It will captivate sky watchers in the city and elsewhere on the night of December 13 and the early hours of December 14.
This year, according to predictions, it may be possible to see 150 meteors per hour since the sky is dark and clear.
How to see the Geminid meteor shower in India
To observe the Geminids, try to get away from bright lights, lie on your back, and look up. Stargazers must allow their eyes to adjust to the dark, which can take about half an hour.
One should not be alarmed at seeing this “celestial phenomenon, since these meteors will not cause harm to anything on Earth,” said Duari.
What is the Geminid meteor shower? How is it produced?
The Geminid meteor shower is one of the most spectacular meteor showers that occurs each year around the second week of December.
Meteorites are brilliant streaks of dazzling light that are often seen in the night sky and are often called “shooting stars.”
Actually, when a rocky object, which can be as small as a speck of dust, enters the Earth’s atmosphere with tremendous speed, due to the excitation of air molecules and friction, a bright beam of light is produced, explained astrophysicist Duari.
During a certain period of the year, one can see not one, but numerous meteors originating from a particular direction in the sky.
They are called meteor showers and, in general, they are caused by the passage of the earth through the debris of dust left by the different comets as they approach the Sun.
In general, comets are mainly made up of ice and dust, and when they get close to the sun, the ice they contain melts, leaving a trail of dust along its path.
As the earth, on its annual journey around the sun, traverses this dusty region, dust and rocky substances enter the earth’s atmosphere, sometimes at speeds of between 30 and 60 km per second, and produce a shower of rays of light, called a meteor shower.
Since they appear to be coming from one direction in the sky, the practice is to identify the constellation from which they appear to radiate and the meteor shower is named after the constellation.
Also, on top of the meteor as predicted, in the middle of the night from December 13 to 14, around 1 to 2 am, when the constellation Gemini will be high above Kolkata, it will provide an opportunity to observe the ” heavenly sky. ” fireworks, ”Duari said.