Mrluvaluva
13-12-2012, 10:05 PM
Sky watchers will be looking up in the coming hours as a meteor shower reaches its peak, sprinkling the night sky with falling stars.
The shower is expected to peak at 11.30pm in the UK on Thursday night, in what could be one of the best sky events of the year.
Tens of "shooting stars" will be streaking across the sky each hour and will be seen if the conditions are good, said Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"It’s just about being somewhere dark - if there is a clear sky," Dr Massey told Sky News.
But he warned the spectacle in the UK could be hampered by poor weather.
With rain or drizzle expected in much of the country, the North East has the best chance of enjoying the show.
On the upside, the moon will not be present, resulting in a darker sky and increasing prospects for a good view.
Unlike many astronomical phenomena, meteors are best seen without a telescope and are perfectly safe to watch, the Royal Astronomical Society said.
Meteors are the result of small particles entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed, burning up and super-heating the air around them.
This creates their characteristic streak of light across the sky.
The annual shower is called Geminid because the meteors appear to originate from a "radiant" in the constellation of Gemini.
By 2am on Friday, the radiant will be almost overhead from the UK, making it ideally placed for observers, weather permitting.
According to the International Meteor Organisation, which coordinates meteor observations, the shower's high-level activity is spread over a period lasting a day or more, meaning if conditions are right the event can be observed until Saturday morning.
Sky (http://news.sky.com/story/1025210/meteor-shower-to-peak-with-dozens-of-stars)
The shower is expected to peak at 11.30pm in the UK on Thursday night, in what could be one of the best sky events of the year.
Tens of "shooting stars" will be streaking across the sky each hour and will be seen if the conditions are good, said Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"It’s just about being somewhere dark - if there is a clear sky," Dr Massey told Sky News.
But he warned the spectacle in the UK could be hampered by poor weather.
With rain or drizzle expected in much of the country, the North East has the best chance of enjoying the show.
On the upside, the moon will not be present, resulting in a darker sky and increasing prospects for a good view.
Unlike many astronomical phenomena, meteors are best seen without a telescope and are perfectly safe to watch, the Royal Astronomical Society said.
Meteors are the result of small particles entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed, burning up and super-heating the air around them.
This creates their characteristic streak of light across the sky.
The annual shower is called Geminid because the meteors appear to originate from a "radiant" in the constellation of Gemini.
By 2am on Friday, the radiant will be almost overhead from the UK, making it ideally placed for observers, weather permitting.
According to the International Meteor Organisation, which coordinates meteor observations, the shower's high-level activity is spread over a period lasting a day or more, meaning if conditions are right the event can be observed until Saturday morning.
Sky (http://news.sky.com/story/1025210/meteor-shower-to-peak-with-dozens-of-stars)