TRATON SCIENCE: Meteor Shower to Dazzle Skies in December

December will feature the best meteor shower of 2010. The Geminid meteor shower, which returns every year, will sparkle the night sky during the overnight hours of 2010 December 13. The Geminid are unique in being associated not with a comet, but with an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.

The Geminids will peak after midnight until the early-morning hours of 2010 December 14, when the Earth heads directly into the meteoroid stream. By 6:00 am EST, the shower will be at its peak in the Eastern Time Zone. The Geminids are expected to stay in view above the horizon all night. As intuitively expected, the Geminid meteor shower will be visible in the direction of the constellation Gemini, with clear dark skies promising the best viewing conditions.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.