News - Blogs - Conditions perfect for viewing tonights meteor shower peak

Conditions perfect for viewing tonight's meteor shower peak
Published: 12/13/2012 4:45 PM
Last Modified: 12/13/2012 4:46 PM

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.

--@JerryWofford

Reader Comments

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DomoArrigato (2 months ago)

Prepare a spot clear of overhead obstructions, put down a tarp to place your sleeping bag on...set the alarm for around 1:00AM, roll over on your back in the sleeping bag, and observe the heavenly show.

Tulsa World Staff Writer Jerry Wofford (2 months ago)

Hope you did that, Domo. I went out to Osage County and saw at least two a minute. Most short and dull, but several bright ones. Was spectacular.

C.R. Delough (2 months ago)

I saw a couple last night in midtown Tulsa. Must have been great out in the country.

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

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Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

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Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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