The night of the 14 December will witness one of the biggest meteor showers of the year in the northern hemisphere. Learn more about meteor showers and how to wish upon a shooting star
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It’s one of the night skies most impressive sights. The rapid-fire movement of wish-bringing shooting stars streaking through the darkness. And the night of 14 December is predicted to be the best night of the year to see them in the northern hemisphere.
But first, let’s get some background into shooting stars. For a start, a shooting star isn’t a star at all, but a meteor and a meteor is an awful lot smaller than a star. It’s simply a speck of dust entering the Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of between 100,000km/h to 250,000km/h. Although we might think of meteor’s as rare that’s far from the case. During quiet periods there are, on average, around ten meteors an hour. That means you get about ten chances an hour to wish upon a shooting star. But, there are also periods of time when much more space dust enters our atmosphere causing what is known as a meteor shower.
A meteor shower is caused by the dense concentrations of dust left behind by comets passing near the sun and then the Earth passing through some of that dust. Many people will be surprised to learn that these aren’t just random occurrences and that the Earth passes through these dust clouds around the same dates each year.
And here’s something else you probably didn’t know about meteor showers. They meteors always originate in a certain part of the night sky and are named after the nearest constellation. So, around the 11-12 August each year a meteor storm originating from near the Perseus constellation is called the Perseids. Another example occurs around 18 November and originates from near the Leo constellation and so is known as the Leonids.
This week the meteors nearest constellation is Gemini and so the meteors are known as Geminids. And this year the show promises to be pretty spectacular. The reason for this is because 14 December coincides with a new moon which means the skies will be extra dark, and the darker the sky the easier it is to see the meteors, which astronomers are predicting could number up to 120 an hour. Having said that, you’d be lucky to see anything like this number, but if local conditions are spot-on then you could well see 50 meteors an hour.
How to see the meteor storm
1 First thing is to get as far as you can from all earthly light sources. The top of a snow-free mountain, or far out at sea, would be ideal, if a little impractical for most of us. Otherwise, a large field is great, or even an open space in a city park might work. Essentially, the further you are from an urban area the better.
2 Stay up late! Meteors will be visible from as soon as it gets dark, but the peak moment is at a rather inconvenient 2am when the sky is darkest. Assuming you won’t be star gazing at that time then you need to look lower toward the horizon to catch the meteors.
3 Lie back and forget about fancy equipment. Don’t bother with telescopes or binoculars. They offer only a very narrow field of vision whereas for meteor viewing you need the sort of wide field of vision the naked eye gives. There’s going to be a lot of waiting around so bring a reclining lawn chair and set it at an angle of 45 degrees which will give you the ideal viewing perspective. Otherwise, you can always just opt to sprawl out on the grass with your head propped up on a pillow or blanket.
4 Dress appropriately. It’s December. It’s the middle of the night. It’s going to be cold! Bring way more clothes than you think you might need and a flask with a hot drink isn’t a bad idea either.
5 Pray for a clear sky. This is the one thing you can’t control. If there’s a heavy cloud presence obscuring the night sky then you won’t see a single shooting star. Fortunately, the weather forecast for much of the UK on Thursday night, is unusually co-operative for star gazing.
Now, set up in a suitable location with clear skies all around, all that remains to be done is plan out all those wishes to be made upon a shooting star.
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