Home SCIENCE AND NATURE Michigan’s most reliable meteor shower, the Geminids, fires up the sky soon – MLive.com

Michigan’s most reliable meteor shower, the Geminids, fires up the sky soon – MLive.com

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Michigan’s most reliable meteor shower, the Geminids, fires up the sky soon – MLive.com

WeatherPosted Dec 06, 2019 The Geminid meteor shower shows up at a very reliable time over the Michigan skies. Here’s when, where and how to see the Geminids.Fireball during Geminid meteor shower over Florida (Brian Ottum, Ann Arbor)The Geminid meteor shower will dart across Michigan’s sky between December 4 and December 17, 2019. The peak nights are going to be around December 14. The peak time period is officially between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., but one astronomer says he likes the few hours just before sunrise to see this meteor shower.Brian Ottum, astronomer, says we will need clear skies, a dark country location and no moonlight to see the best of the Geminids. Unfortunately it looks like we can only hope for two out of three of those criteria with this month’s meteor shower. The peak nights of the meteor shower arrive just a few days after the full moon. Ottum advises there could be a short time just before sunrise when the moon isn’t blasting our Michigan sky with light.In Brian Ottum’s book, the Geminid meteor shower is the best meteor shower of the year because you will see some meteors. If we can get clear skies, we could see one meteor per minute. There’s a bad side and a good side of the moonlight around December 14. The moonlight may obscure the more faint meteors. If you see a meteor it may be the rare, bright fireballs at that time.The meteor shower officially starts December 4, but it’s a slow ramp up of meteors. Ottum advises it’s not really worth staying up late to see meteors at the beginning of the meteor shower period.So Ottum thinks the best times to see meteors will be the early morning of Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15, assuming skies are clear enough.If the sky is clear you will probably see at least one meteor. Ottum says it’s not important what direction you look. Just look straight up in a very dark area without trees and lights.Fireballs are the most showy of the shooting stars, with slow movement and a fiery tail. If you are going to be vacationing in a more southern climate, you’ll have a better shot at seeing one of these fireballs. The fireballs are the most dramatic and bright. You can watch the meteor break up into pieces and burn up.There is always the potential that one of these meteors could turn into a meteorite, which is when the meteor hits the ground. If you really want to be serious about seeing the Geminids, bring a sleeping bag for the cold, Ottum advises. You could also vacation in an area with palm trees, like Ottum did when he photographed the Geminid fireball above.

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