Around about now might be a good time for grey nomads sitting in their vans playing cards or watching TV to set up their campchairs outside and gaze up at the night sky.
The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight and early tomorrow morning offering a spectacular show … especially if you are away from light pollution.
Jonti Horner, an astronomer at the University of Southern Queensland, told the ABC that the trick this year was to catch the Geminid before the Moon rises.
That means the best time to start looking for meteors this year is mid to late evening, about one to two hours before moonrise.
It's time to sit back and enjoy the show. PIC: Neale LaSalle / Pexels
The ABC reports that the Moon rises at the following times during the peak on Wednesday night/Thursday morning (depending on your time zone):
The meteors are visible right across Australia, but the further north you are, the better.
The Geminids are created as Earth moves through the debris of an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.
Professor Horner told the ABC that meteor watchers needed to be patient.
“The good rule of thumb is meteors are like buses; you can wait 10 minutes and three come along at once,” he said. “It’s that randomness that makes it quite compelling.”
He said people should take a comfortable chair or something to lie down on, and make sure they had a good view of the east and the north in the evening, or the north-west if out in the early morning.
He told the ABC that meteor watchers should give their eyes some time to adjust, and scan the sky rather than look at a certain point.
“I can almost guarantee [that] if you just look for five minutes, you’ll be disappointed,” he told the ABC. “Lay back, share it with other people, chill out, and you’ll see what you see.”
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