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10 Dec 2024, 14:46

Geminid meteor shower to be visible in Russia, peak at end of week — scientists

In December, the so-called evening parade of planets became visible in the night sky

NOVOSIBIRSK, December 10. /TASS/. Stargazers in Russia will have the chance to observe one of the year’s largest meteor showers, the Geminids, which is expected to reach its peak on Friday, December 13, according to the press service of Novosibirsk State University (NSU), citing the institution's astrophysicist Alfiya Nesterenko.

"Citizens will have the chance to observe the December Geminids meteor shower, which will peak on December 13," the press service quoted Alfiya Nesterenko, head of the educational astrophysical automated complex at the NSU Physics Department, as saying. "Geminid meteors appear slower than those of the November Leonids because they do not approach Earth head-on but rather catch up with it. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere see them as brighter since they remain visible for a longer time and often appear in clusters of several meteors at once," Nesterenko added.

In December, the so-called evening parade of planets became visible in the night sky. This is a relatively rare phenomenon, as planets are typically scattered along the ecliptic in an irregular pattern and may not be visible due to being obscured by the Sun.

"On Monday, December 9, the Moon briefly ‘covered’ Neptune. On December 14, the nearly full Moon will approach Uranus, followed by a close approach to Jupiter on December 15. On December 18, as the Moon begins to wane, it will draw near Mars, and on December 29, the crescent Moon will approach and bid farewell to Mercury. This sequence of events will make it possible to see nearly all the planets of the solar system," Nesterenko explained.

According to NSU, the planetary orbits this year are aligned in such a way that it is possible to observe most of them nearly simultaneously in December. The Moon can serve as a helpful reference point for locating them.