COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The annual Geminids meteor shower peaks Friday night Dec. 13-14, but because central Ohio will see an increase in high clouds, coupled with the illumination of a nearly full moon, the number of visible meteors will be far less than ideal.
December is typically the cloudiest month of the year in Ohio, so the Geminids often receive less attention than other meteor showers, despite providing one of the brightest celestial shows of the year, along with the Perseids in August and Leonids in November.
The greatest number of meteors are seen starting a little after midnight, but last year I counted a number of them beginning after 9 p.m. Under perfect conditions, which means clear skies and far away from urban lights, as many as 120 have been observed in an hour at peak in dark skies.
If the skies are only partly cloudy where you are, you won't need any special viewing equipment. Just let your eyes adjust to the dark sky, and bring extra blankets, gloves, and wear warm clothing.
Meteors are streaks of light created by particles burning up in Earth's upper atmosphere when Earth's orbit intersects with the debris field of a comet or asteroid.
The mysterious Geminids meteor shower was first observed in 1862 and has become brighter in recent decades as more material interacts with Earth's orbit.
“Geminids are one of the best meteor showers of the year,” said Don Stevens, director of Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. “Unlike most meteor showers, the source is an asteroid and not a comet,” Stevens said.
Stevens said the asteroid, discovered in 1983 known as 3200 Phaethon, is about 3 miles in diameter and completes its orbit every 1.4 years, making the closest approach to the sun of all the named asteroids. The debris trail could be the result of a collision or an orbital shift nearer to the sun.
Stevens said that 3200 Phaethon moves “within half the orbit of Mercury” and “its orbit and composition make it a likely former comet."
"Extremes in temperature could lead to the breaking down of the layers near the surface, and the IR (infrared) radiation coupled with its rotation (could be) driving that material off its surface," he said.
