Geminid meteor shower in 2012 and its mysterious origins

Composite of 23 images of Perseid meteor shower, taken on the morning of August 12, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend David Kingham from the Snowy Range of Wyoming. Click here to expand image.

The next meteor shower – and last major meteor shower of 2012 – will be the Geminid shower of December. In 2012, this shower peaks late at night on December 13 until early in the morning December 14. But the nights before and after should be good, too. The Geminids have been great in recent years. Some predictions are going as high as 100 meteors per hour for this shower! The moon is out of the way for this year’s Geminid meteor shower. All in all, it’s an awesome year to watch the Geminids. What’s more, astronomers are beginning to talk about the Geminids’ parent object in a whole new way. This object, called 3200 Phaethon, has had astronomers stumped for years because – although comets are known to spawn all the other annual meteor showers – this object looks like an asteroid. Now astronomers are thinking 3200 Phaethon might a member of a whole new category of objects, which they’re calling rock comets. If so, you might say the Geminid meteor shower is a rock comet meteor shower. The video below explains more.

How to watch the 2012 Geminid meteor shower. The usual rules for meteor-watching apply. Find a dark location, far from city lights, to get the best view. The Geminids are unusual in being as rich in the evening as after midnight. That’s because the radiant point for the Geminid shower rises in mid-evening on December nights. Of course, you don’t need to identify the radiant point to see the meteors. They will appear all over the sky. Best night should be December 13 until dawn December 14, but the nights around that will be good, too. Just lie back and look up!

The Geminids radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini, in the east on December evenings.

Bottom line: The Geminid meteor shower in 2012 should be best late at night on December 13 to before dawn December 14. But the nights before and after that should be good, too. You might expect 50-100 meteors per hour at the peak. This is an awesome shower! Don’t miss it. Plus its parent object – 3200 Phaethon – might be a whole new type of object. Astronomers are calling them “rock comets.” The video in this post explains more.

- EarthSky