{"id":791859,"date":"2024-12-09T11:09:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791859"},"modified":"2024-12-09T11:09:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:09:02","slug":"our-strategy-to-catch-the-2024-geminid-meteors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791859","title":{"rendered":"Our Strategy to Catch the 2024 Geminid Meteors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Don\u2019t let the bright Moon deter you from seeing the one of the best meteor showers of the year.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One of the best meteor showers of 2024 closes out the year this coming weekend. If skies are clear, watch for the Geminid meteors, peaking on the night of Friday into Saturday, December 13-14<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-169860\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-geminids-in-2024\">The Geminids in 2024 <\/h2>\n<p>To be sure, the Geminids have a few strikes against them this year. Not only is it cold outside, but the Moon is near Full, 98% illuminated waxing gibbous at the shower\u2019s max. But don\u2019t despair: the shower hits its maximum at 3:00 Universal Time (UT) on December 14<sup>th<\/sup> (10:00 PM EST on the 13<sup>th<\/sup>) with a max Zenithal Hourly Rate of 120 meteors per hour. This means the shower will favor western Europe and North America, a plus. The radiant in Gemini near the bright star Castor (Alpha Geminorum) also means that the shower starts to be active in the late evening <em>before <\/em>local midnight.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Geminid radiant, looking east on the evening of December 13th. Credit: Stellarium. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The source of the Geminids is none other than prolific \u2018rock-comet\u2019 3200 Phaethon. Clearly, something intriguing is going on with this object. On a short 1.4 year orbit, 3200 Phaethon seems to blur the line between asteroid and semi-dormant comet nucleus. Japan wants to send its DESTINY+ mission to 3200 Phaethon in 2028 to get a closer look.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PIA22185.gif\" alt=\"3200 Phaethon\" class=\"wp-image-170045\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PIA22185.gif 240w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PIA22185-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A radio animation of 3200 Phaethon. Credit: Arecibo\/NASA\/NSF<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Geminids have put on a show since 1862, though they seem to have really taken off in recent decades, surpassing the August Perseids as the best annual meteor shower of the year.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meteorshowers.org\/view\/iau-4\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fighting-the-moon\">Fighting the Moon<\/h2>\n<p>The key to seeing any meteor shower at its best is to find dark skies and a clear, unobstructed horizon. The December Moon sits just a constellation away in Taurus at the shower\u2019s peak\u2026 but keep in mind, the shower is also active on the evenings prior to and after the 14<sup>th<\/sup>. I plan to select my observing site with this in mind, and block the Moon behind a hill or tree. Early morning predawn observing will put the Moon lower to the horizon.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"566\" src=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/15403294703_58df187241_c.jpg\" alt=\"Geminid\" class=\"wp-image-170046\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/15403294703_58df187241_c.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/15403294703_58df187241_c-580x410.jpg 580w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/15403294703_58df187241_c-250x177.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/15403294703_58df187241_c-768x543.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A sequence of Geminid meteors from 2014. Credit: Mary McIntyre. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s a reason the Moon is currently so high in the sky: not only is the Moon near the December Solstice and occupying the slot that the Sun will hold in June, but we\u2019re headed towards a once every 18.6-year Major Lunar Standstill of the Moon in 2025.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"773\" src=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/27275815469_526ef2a14b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Geminids\" class=\"wp-image-170047\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/27275815469_526ef2a14b_c.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/27275815469_526ef2a14b_c-580x560.jpg 580w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/27275815469_526ef2a14b_c-250x242.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/27275815469_526ef2a14b_c-768x742.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Geminid meteor all-sky camera view. Credit: Eliot Herman. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Observing and contributing to meteor shower science is as easy as watching, recording what you\u2019re seeing at a designated interval, and reporting that count to the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Keep in mind, several other meteor showers are still active in mid-December, including the November Taurid fireballs and the Ursids, peaking on December 22nd. For imaging, I like to simply automate the process, and set a wide-field DSLR camera running on a tripod with an intervalometer to take timed exposure shots and see what turns up later in post processing. Aim the camera off to one side of the radiant by about 45 to 90 degrees to catch the Geminid meteors in profile.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t miss the 2024 Geminids, as a fine way to round out sky-watching in 2024.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-169860-6757143c5ab32\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=14.0#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=169860&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-169860-6757143c5ab32&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-169860-6757143c5ab32\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/169860\/our-strategy-to-catch-the-2024-geminid-meteors\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t let the bright Moon deter you from seeing the one of the best meteor showers of the year. One of the best meteor showers of 2024 closes out the&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":791860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-791859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=791859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/791860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=791859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=791859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=791859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}