GEMINID METEOR SHOWER 2010
The Geminids will peak on the night of December 13th till the morning of 14th and will produce a fertile show of shooting stars. The Geminids are a meteor shower caused by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This would make the Geminids the only meteor shower not originating from a passing comet. Recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, generally around 2am to 3am GMT.
The meteors appear to come from a radiant in the constellation Gemini. However, they can appear almost anywhere in the night sky, and often appear yellowish in hue. The meteors travel at medium speed in relation to other showers, at about 22 miles per second, making them fairly easy to spot. This year, the First Quarter Moon will set at 12:56am IST so it will not interfere the later night. The radiant of the Geminids will rise around 8pm.
Last year, the KAAC members observed 301 meteors throughout the night and this year KAAC has planned to observe the Geminids from the same venue of Makanpar-Dhosa village.
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