Geminids - are we gonna see shooting stars in Mauritius?
December 12, 2007 by zetwal

The Geminids (in December) and the Perseids (in August) are the two best meteo shower display every year. Since we are in December, it’s the Geminids that i’m going to talk about.
Meteor shower???
In simple terms, on the 13th and 14th of December, we are supposed to see lots of shooting stars - up to 100 per hour according to New Scientist - that’s many wishes to make! More exactly, during that time of the year, the path of the earth intersects that of the debris (small rocks) following 3200 Phaethon (an asteroid) and these debris crash and burn in our atmosphere producing shooting stars.
The Geminids have puzzled astronomers for years since most meteor shower emerge from comets but for the Gemenids, it emerges from an asteroid!
How do I see them?
The Geminids meteor shower seem to emerge from the Gemini constellation (thus their name) but most of the time they are more visible in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere but unfortunately I’m not knowledgable enough in astronomy to recommend a best time to see them in Mauritius.



I want to watch those! Thanks for sharing the info about the upcoming meteor shower (hit me, kryptonite! hit me lol)
For those who want to learn more, I suggest you install those 2:
http://www.stellarium.org/
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/