From late this night into the early hours of Thursday morning, many individuals might be directing their gaze skyward within the hope of seeing some taking pictures stars streaking throughout the sky.
Tonight is the height of the annual Geminid meteor bathe and so the approaching hours supply the very best likelihood to witness the results of Earth passing by way of a cloud of particles left behind by the 3200 Phaethon asteroid.
A taking pictures star occurs when a chunk of rock or mud touring by way of area hits Earth’s environment at excessive pace, inflicting it to fritter away, making a vibrant white streak within the course of.
Do not Miss:
With the Geminids in thoughts, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen on Wednesday shared a brief clip displaying what a taking pictures star seems like from area, particularly the Worldwide Area Station about 250 miles above Earth.
Search for!
A number of weeks in the past I used to be fortunate sufficient to seize a taking pictures star on video. It was over within the blink of an eye fixed, so the second a part of the video reveals it slowed down. The trail of the meteor is straight, nevertheless it does look wonky, because of my hand motion and the digicam making an attempt to… pic.twitter.com/EvlUGAxRu0
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) December 13, 2023
Mogensen stated he captured the footage a number of weeks in the past. “It was over within the blink of an eye fixed,” he wrote in a publish on social media, including the second a part of the video reveals it slowed down. He defined that whereas the the trail of the meteor is definitely straight, it seems erratic within the video due to his digicam actions.
The Geminid meteor bathe is a enjoyable one to look at as it may well supply greater than 100 taking pictures stars an hour, and also you don’t want any specialist tools to take pleasure in it. They usually’ll look rather more dramatic than the one in Mogensen’s video, as they’ll zip throughout the sky at excessive pace, making a line of vibrant gentle as they go.
Take a look at these prime recommendations on learn how to watch the Geminid meteor bathe tonight and early tomorrow morning. If cloud cowl blocks the view, you’ll have extra probabilities within the coming days, however understand that the speed might be decrease.
Editors’ Suggestions