Scheduled air date: 1999 Dec 06-12
The Geminid Meteor Shower will reach its peak the night of the 13th-14th. The above
illustrates that these meteors appear to originate from a point (marked by the red
"+" symbol) within the constellation Gemini, however they can appear anywhere in
the sky. The best viewing time will be between local midnight and twilight on
Tuesday, December 14th.
(Shown about 2:00 AM for mid-Northern latitudes.)
On the evening of the 12th, a thin Crescent Moon will appear to the upper left of the
planet Mars (shown about thirty minutes after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes).
INSET: If viewing through a pair of binoculars or a telescope, another, much fainter,
planet—Uranus—can be seen next to a moderately bright star just above Mars.
Both planets' positions are shown for the nights of the 12th-14th.
If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.
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Illustrations on this page were created using
TheSky Astronomy
Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc. |