Will the Weather Hold Out for the Geminid Meteor Shower?

First appearing in the 1860s it has steadily increased and with more than 130 per hour observed in 2008. It wasn't until 1983 that 3200 Phaethon was discovered and later attributed as the source of the meteor shower.

Geminid meteor from San Francisco. : Wikipedia

(Salem, Ore.) - The Geminid meteor shower will peak December 14th and 15th (Sunday 9:10 p.m. PST). The Moon will be close to a new Moon which will help keep skies dark for a good display. Unfortunately the clear cold weather is expected to be gone, replaced by cold and wet.

NASA stated, "Geminids are pieces of debris from a strange object called 3200 Phaethon. Long thought to be an asteroid, Phaethon is now classified as an extinct comet. It is, basically, the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun. Earth runs into a stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December, causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini"

First appearing in the 1860s it has steadily increased and with more than 130 per hour observed in 2008. It wasn't until 1983 that 3200 Phaethon was discovered and later attributed as the source of the meteor shower.

"Jupiter's gravity has been acting on Phaethon's debris stream, causing it to shift more and more toward Earth's orbit. Each December brings a deeper plunge into the debris stream. "

NASA - The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower

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