2013 Geminid Meteor Shower: How and What Time to Best View the Geminid Meteor Shower Peak on Dec. 13 and 14
The 2013 Geminid meteor shower peak this weekend will give the sky watchers an early holiday viewing treat. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) experts suggested in the Red Orbit report that viewers must go out before sunrise and after the moon has set to make the most of the Geminid meteor shower viewing experience.
The annual Geminids will be lighting up the night skies starting on Dec. 12 until Dec. 16 with its peak activity to take place on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 13 and 14) where sky watchers may see 100 to 120 meteors per hour.
"The best time to view Geminids is normally around 1:00am-2:00am your local time. This year, the presence of a bright moon may make 4:00am to dawn a better time. Find a place away from city lights, then allow 45 minutes for your eyes to adjust to darkness. Lie on your back and look straight up because no binoculars are needed. You might want to bring a blanket and some hot chocolate because baby, it's cold outside! Enjoy the show!" NASA suggested in viewing the 2013 Geminid meteor shower.
Bill Cooke, the leader at NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, revealed that the Geminids are his favorite. "Of all the debris streams Earth passes through every year, the Geminids are by far the most massive. When we add up the amount of dust in the Geminid stream, it outweighs other streams by factors of 5 to 500," the NASA expert stated.
According to the Northern Voices Online report, the Geminid meteor shower will peak at approximately 11 p.m. MST on Dec. 13 and 14. There will be 5 to 10 meteors visible per hour across a dark low southwestern sky that gradually increases up to 100 to 120 meteors per hour with a velocity of 35 km (22 miles) per second.
The suggested viewing time for the night spectacle would be at 9 to 10 p.m. and the dawn hours even with the Full Gibbous Moon obstructing the view a little bit. The Clarksville Online report revealed that NASA astronomer Bill Cooke together with Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw from his team of experts will be answering questions about the 2013 Geminid meteor shower through a live Web chat scheduled on Dec. 13 starting at 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. CST.
The live Ustream feed of the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will be available as well. Click HERE for the embedded live Ustream feed during the night of the live Web chat.
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