Tomorrow is the day of the annual Gemini meteor shower that never disappoints.
What time can I see? See figure below
Figure | EasyNight
If you do what I say, you're guaranteed to see dozens or even hundreds of shooting stars. If you are lucky, you may even encounter a few bright blind fire meteors.
At the end of the year, it rained again
The Gemini meteor shower is active from December 7 to around 17 each year, and the maximum period occurs around December 14 every year. At maximum, it is theoretically possible to see more than 100 meteors per hour, and in recent years it has often exceeded 150.
These meteors all look like they are shooting out of gemini heads, hence the name Gemini meteor shower. The picture below is what I took in 2018 on Dongling Mountain in Beijing, and I can see countless meteors shooting out of the same location.
2018 Gemini Meteor Shower 丨 Author Photo
If the origin of these meteors is not to be traced, they may all originate from asteroid 3200. In the perhaps not-so-distant past, Fareton did not know what had happened, and scattered a lot of dust that drifted near its orbit. Every year in early to mid-December, the Earth passes near the orbit of Fareton, and it hits the dust head-on. Those dusts intruded into the Earth's atmosphere, and in a short period of time, they turned into a large amount of twin rain.
In 2017, when the Twin Rain was extremely heavy, It happened that Fareton was also running near the Earth, so I seized the opportunity to take the following Gemini Rain parent-child photo. Such a rare family portrait shoot opportunity will not appear until 2093. It doesn't matter, even if you can't see the Gemini rain, the Gemini rain itself is wonderful enough.
Gemini rain parent-child photo | The author shoots
The weather and the earth help stargazing
This year's Twins are extremely rainy and will appear tomorrow during the daytime Beijing time. Fortunately, for the Twin Rains, the maximum period can last for a whole day. So, from the second half of tonight until tomorrow night, it is the best time to watch the Twin Rain this year. Theoretically, there will be more than 100 meteors per hour in the middle of the night tonight, that is, in the early hours of tomorrow.
Of course, the number of meteors mentioned above is the number of meteors that may be seen when all conditions are ideal. In fact, due to various conditions, such as light pollution, field of view obscured, and differences in the location of radiation points, the meteors you can see per hour are definitely smaller than the theoretical values. Because of this, if you want to see a cool Gemini meteor shower, you have to try to stay away from the light pollution in the city and find a darker and relatively empty place to wait.
Bright moonlight is another influencing factor that cannot be avoided. In fact, even if you really catch the big moon, with the performance of the Gemini rain over the years, the meteors can still be guarded, but many dark meteors will not be seen. The following is the twin rain in 2019, which still has a good performance against the big moonlight.
Today is the first ten of the lunar calendar, the first half of the night more than half a moon bright hanging in the sky, but in the second half of the night a little later, the moon will fall, at this time Gemini is rising higher and higher, the performance of the meteor shower is gradually entering a better state.
The gemini meteor shower in the 2019 moonlight 丨 author photo
In this way, the only thing that can prevent you from enjoying this meteor shower is probably the unpredictable weather.
According to the current weather forecast, tomorrow morning and night, except for South China and Southwest China, most other areas will not have any clouds. In short, if you have good weather there now, you can probably look forward to it at night.
A guide to meteor watching
Assuming you're in good weather there, how should you observe this year's Gemini meteor shower?
Be well prepared for the cold
Winter nights can be unusually cold, not to mention staying outdoors, so no matter where you plan to observe, you must be well prepared for the cold. Thick scarves (covering the face and nose), hats (covering the top of the head and ears), gloves, warm underwear, and a cold jacket can not be missing.
It is better to have another thermos and bring some hot water. Things like warm babies also work very well at this time.
Winter stargazing equipment, keep warm is the highlight of the | EasyNight
Select a viewing location
For meteor showers, as with stargazing, it is recommended to go out of town to observe. Only by avoiding the strong light pollution in the city, in the darker night sky, you will be able to see as many meteors as possible.
Where can we avoid light damage? You can refer to the Light Damage Map. For example, as shown in the light damage map around Beijing below, the darker the map, the smaller the light damage, and the better the effect of stargazing and meteor showers. Also, remember to find an open area with too much obstruction around, as as as experience most meteors will appear near low altitudes near the horizon.
Schematic map of light hazards around Beijing 丨light pollution map
Find a comfortable position to look up at the sky
Watching a meteor shower with the naked eye, with at most suitable glasses, does not require any telescopes. Although the Gemini meteor shower radiates from Gemini, the timing of the meteor's appearance, and the orientation in the sky, is completely random.
So, even if you don't know the constellation at all, you don't even know which direction Gemini is in the sky, it doesn't matter, just stare at a piece of the sky and wait patiently. Under normal circumstances, tomorrow morning, in an environment without too much light damage, almost every minute, you should see a meteor falling.
Yes, you read that right, on average it does take about 1 minute to see a meteor. Even with the most anticipated Gemini meteor shower, you won't see the effect of a rain of stars.
2015 Gemini meteor shower, which is the effect of the overnight meteor superposition 丨 author photographed
The visual effect of the above picture requires the meteors taken for several hours to be superimposed on a single photo.
A real meteor shower requires you to be patient enough to wait. You can never guess in which direction the next meteor will pass, whether it will be a fire meteor that will surprise the audience.
In 2020 Gemini's Great Night, a group of fire meteors caught was filmed by the author
And when a bright blind fire meteor drags the tail of fire in front of your eyes, believe me, you will feel that waiting for this night in the cold night is worth it!
Author: Steed
An AI
Make a wish, tonight it's sunny ~ ~~
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