Meteor showers seen today

Filipino sky-watchers will have a nice view of the Geminid meteor showers before dawn today as clear sky conditions are expected to prevail over the country in the next two days, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday. 

Dr. Bernardo Soriano, chief of Pagasa’s Atmospheric, Geophysical and Space Sciences Branch (AGSSB), said latest weather forecasts showed that the skies will be clear in the next two days.

He said Geminids is one of the most spectacular annual showers, as it sometimes exceeds 100 meteors per hour.

Soriano said Geminids will peak on Dec. 14 to 15, with an average rate of 60 showers per hour.

He said Geminids is active from Dec. 6 to 19, but the best time to watch is in the morning of Dec. 15.

He said the showers will be visible all over the Philippines.

“The best time to look is during the early morning hours between about 2 a.m. and dawn,” Soriano said.

Observers won’t need binoculars or a telescope because the naked eye is usually best for seeing meteors, which often streak more than 45 degrees across the sky, it said.

The radiant of the Geminid shower is located near Castor, one of the two bright stars in Gemini.

Radiant pertains to a point in space from which a meteor shower appears to originate.    – Helen Flores