The Biggest Meteor Shower of the Year is about to Happen
- The Geminids meteor shower coincide perfectly with the Sigma Hydrids meteor shower out of Hydra the Serpent constellation. The Hydra constellation is the largest/longest constellation. If there is a serpent with a tail long enough to sweep one third of the “stars” down to earth, this is easily the one. Will it be this year that biblical prophecy is fulfilled? Your guess as good as mind. No one knows.
– - The Biggest Meteor Shower of the Year is about to Happen
by Laura Barry, https://www.bhg.com.au/
Up to 120 shooting stars an hour.
Professor Alan Duffy, an astronomer at Swinburne University in Melbourne and lead scientist for the Royal Institute of Australia, has told Australian Geographic that on December 14, 2018, the biggest meteor shower of the year will be visible from earth, and revellers can expect to see up to 120 shooting stars an hour at its peak.
–
The Geminids meteor shower will light up the skies with an arresting lightshow of shooting stars when the earth passes through a cloud of debris from parent asteroid, 3200 Phaethon.
–
The Geminids meteor shower is a relatively new addition to the astro-scene, having only first been spotted 150 years ago, while other meteor showers such as Perseids and the Lyrids have been happening for thousands of years.
–
Due to other events that have taken place in space, the Geminids’ orbit is now moving closer to earth each year, which is why it has become more visible. Although, there’s no real threat that the meteor shower will collide with earth.
–
When can you see the meteor shower?
For Australians, the best way to catch a glimpse of the shower is to start watching the skies at 11:30pm AEST on Friday the 14th of December, 10:30pm for Queensland and 8pm in Western Australia.
- Sigma Hydrids Meteor Shower – Hydra Constellation
by https://www.universeguide.com/
The Sigma Hydrids meteor shower takes place within the boundaries constellation of Hydrus. The meteor shower occurs between Dec 03 – Dec 15 with the peak occuring on the Dec 12 every year.
–
The Solar Longitude (Abbrev: S.L., λ ☉) is 252.9 degrees, this value is the the date of maximum activity. It is measured as a degree with zero degree indicating spring equinox (roughly March 21st/22nd). 90 is the Summer Solstice, 180 is the Autumn Equinox and 270 is the Winter Solstice. This degree is independent of the calender. AMS .
–
Hydra the constellation associated with this meteor Shower is the biggest constellation in the sky. It represents in one legend the monster that Hercules slayed. Even though the constellation is big, the meteor shower on the other hand is very faint and not spectacular. Given the faintness and there not being many meteors in the shower, it could be assumed that the source of the material for this is a long-period comet and that what we hit is the last remaining remnants of its tail that has not yet burnt up.
–
The closest star to the radiant point of the meteor shower is Minchir. The coordinates can also be determined by the Right Ascension (123.2) and the Declination (3).
–
The Zenith Hourly Rate or how many you expect to see during the hour is 3. The ZHR can radically increase if the comet or associated object is close by. The speed/velocity of the Meteor Shower particles is 59 km/s. The population index of the meteor shower is 3. The population index refers to the magnitude distribution of the meteorites, the smaller the index, the brighter the meteors are, the higher, the dimmer the meteors are. For this particular meteor shower, bright meteors are more frequent.
–
read more.
– - Hydra (constellation)
by https://en.wikipedia.org/
Hydra is the largest of the 88 modern constellations, measuring 1303 square degrees. Also one of the longest at over 100 degrees, its southern end abuts Libra and Centaurus and its northern end borders Cancer.[1] It has a long history, having been included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. It is commonly represented as a water snake. It should not be confused with the similarly named constellation of Hydrus.
…
The Greek constellation of Hydra is an adaptation of a Babylonian constellation: the MUL.APIN includes a “serpent” constellation (MUL.DINGIR.MUŠ) that loosely corresponds to Hydra. It is one of two Babylonian “serpent” constellations (the other being the origin of the Greek Serpens), a mythological hybrid of serpent, lion and bird.[2]
–
The shape of Hydra resembles a twisting snake, and features as such in some Greek myths. One myth associates it with a water snake that a crow served Apollo in a cup when it was sent to fetch water; Apollo saw through the fraud, and angrily cast the crow, cup, and snake, into the sky. It is also associated with the monster Hydra, with its many heads, killed by Hercules, represented in another constellation.[3]According to legend, if one of the hydra’s heads was cut off, two more would grow in its place. However, Hercules burned out the roots of the heads he severed to prevent them from growing again, and thus overcame the hydra.[4]
–
read more.
end