Last night marked the peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower for 2011. However, despite what most of the news media may lead you to believe, there is a lot more to the Geminid shower than the night of December 13/14. While most news outlets only focus on the peak night, the fact is that the Geminds will not be going away in any hurry.
Unlike what may have been suggested by most non-astronomical news sources, the Geminid shower lasts for about two weeks, a week on either side of the peak night. Why? The shower is caused by Earth running into a trail of space debris from 3200 Phaeton every year. Think of it as a rainstorm. When driving into a rain shower, the rain does not come and go in a sudden burst. Likewise, the trail of cometary debris is the same way in that it starts light, gets thicker until the deepest point is reached, and then starts lightening up again until the Earth passes completely through.
Bottom line: The Geminids aren't going anywhere any time soon!
So, with the Geminids sticking around for another week or so, why not go out and continue to enjoy them?
Don't want to stay up that late? Don't worry, Gemini is up just about all night and will climb higher as the night progresses. However, unless one lives out in the country, the early post-midnight hours will probably involve Gemini being low in a light dome. To improve odds of seeing meteors, travel out of light polluted Cleveland and to the suburbs or, even better, the country if you can. In the suburbs, just going from the front to back yard can make a dramatic difference as this will eliminate glare from those pesky street/house lights to a large extent. Go here for more viewing tips. Feeling ambitious? Why not try photographing meteors?
Two things can ruin the meteor shower: clouds and the Moon. The clouds? Well, that's a regional thing. Check your local Clear Sky Clockto see what the clouds have in store for your location tonight. Unfortunately, for us in the Cleveland area, tonight is looking terrible, which means that we'll have to content ourselves by listening to the shower. As for the Moon, that's an Earth-wide issue. The bad news is that, this year, the Moon will be just about full, thus both bright and up almost all night. The good: even the Moon can't outshine the brightest meteors. .
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