False-color image of a 2011 Geminid meteor, captured by a camera at New Mexico State University, operated by the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Ala. (NASA/MSFC/MEO)
If you can stand a little chill, tonight could be the night of the year for stargazing.
There could be
two meteor showers that peak overnight tonight. The first is the Geminid, a well-established and reliable meteor shower, and a newcomer that has not been named.
At the peak, there could be more than 100 pieces of rock that fall through and burn up the atmosphere tonight.
Bonus points for the Tulsa area: the new moon was early this morning, so the sky will be extra dark, and the forecast calls for a mostly clear sky, at least at first. It doesn’t get much better than that. Well…other than the temperatures, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
First though, the Geminid. This is one of the annual meteor showers that we can count on to be spectacular nearly every year. It is named as such because it appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini, located to the northeast of Orion. The particles that will enter the atmosphere come from an asteroid, making it the one of the only observable meteor showers to not originate from a comet. The meteors typically have a yellowish hue and travel relatively slowly, about 22 miles per second.
The other projected meteor shower is a little more problematic for skywatchers. The source of the shower is from the comet Wirtanen, but the Earth has never passed through its debris field before. Scientists say this year it could, resulting in about 30 meteors per hour and radiating from the constellation Picses.
The Geminid is expected to start to ramp up about 10 p.m. and peak between 2 and 3 a.m.
Unfortunately by then,
clouds are expected to start making their way into the area ahead of a storm system Friday. Also, temperatures are expected to be in the lower 40s, which may be a little too chilly for some. But seriously, get some blankets and hot chocolate and deal with it, because it’s worth it.
However, if it’s just too chilly, or clouds come in a little sooner than is forecasted, there is always the Internet. NASA will be hosting a
live chat and will stream the night sky over the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., starting at 10 p.m. Thanks, Internet!
But it can’t beat the real thing. So, go find somewhere out of town, probably best toward the east with the lights of Tulsa to your back, break out the reclining lawn chair and thermos of coffee and enjoy the show. You should also take some photos and
send them to me. I would like that very much, friends.
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@JerryWofford
