12/13/2013 – Ephemeris – The Geminid meteor shower will peak overnight

Ephemeris for Friday, December 13th.  The sun will rise at 8:11.  It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02.   The moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 5:27 tomorrow morning.

The Geminid meteor shower will reach maximum around 12:45 a.m. tomorrow morning.  The big problem will be the bright moon, so only the brightest meteors will be visible before the moon sets tomorrow morning.  The 5:27 moon-set time will give the Geminids about an hour of dark skies, plus maybe another half hour of unobjectionable morning twilight to see them at their best.  The Geminids will appear to originate from near the star Castor at the head of the constellation Gemini, where Jupiter is currently located.  It is said that the Geminids are year in and year our the most reliable shower.  That may be true, because in 1983 the source of the meteor shower was found, a long dead comet hulk, that resembles an asteroid but with a comet’s orbit.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Geminid radiant at 6 a.m. December 14, 2014 after moon set. Created using my LookingUp program for Windows

The brighter Geminids can be seen all night, but the darkest time will be just before dawn.