Star gazers, ready for some meteor shower? Always, right? It is time for the Geminid Meteor Shower, which shows up round about this time of the year. This meteor shower was observed first back in 1862 and it happens every year in December, when asteroid 3200 Phaethon collided with another object to produce a steady stream of particles. Heads up already!
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The Geminids meteor shower this year is considered to be most spectacular and most dazzling sky event of the year. Interestingly, this meteor shower began about 200 years ago and it is the only meteor shower caused by a rock comet – all other showers, except the Quadrantids (caused by an asteroid), are due to cometary debris. So it is special and it will surely give you an amazing shooting star sight. Also, since the moon will be almost absent during peak hours of meteor shower, it is expected to be magical.
While Geminid shower will last from December 12 to 16, but the night of 13th and early 14th till about 4 o clock. In India, the best time to watch the 2017 Geminid Meteor Shower, is on the night of December 13th – so practically it is 14th December 1 AM to 2 AM. Usually, the frequency of meteors during Geminid is 1-2 meteors per minute on dark, moonless nights. But this year, the asteroid 3200 will fly within 6.4 million miles of Earth, its closest distance since 1974 – this means more meteors. Oh and another reason to not miss the celestial event – the asteroid will not come this close again till 2093. Don’t miss it.
Now that you know when to watch this beautiful celestial occurrence, let’s know where and how to watch it. The Geminids can be seen with the naked eye under clear, dark skies over most of the world, though the best view is from the Northern Hemisphere. Don’t worry if you are in the Southern hemisphere, it just means you will get to see fewer Geminids. About how to watch, well, sky gazing is pretty easy. Just get away from bright lights and look up in any direction! Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark. Meteors appear all over the sky. It is best to head away from the urban lights and if you really want to make it a meteor shower trip, I got you covered.
For North India, the best options are Triund (a beautiful trek from Mcleodganj in Himachal Pradesh), Khajjiar, Kheerganga, Binsar. For Easterners, go for Siliguri or Darjeeling; Tarakali in Maharashtra, Saputara in Gujarat are best places to enjoy meteor nights in West India. While South India enjoys some of the best hilly regions including Munnar, Coonoor and Ooty. In all these light-free, pollution-free areas, you might as well be able to see as many as 120 Geminid meteors per hour streaking across the sky. Just go!
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