Account Login/Registration

Access KelownaNow using your Facebook account, or by entering your information below.


Facebook


OR


Register

Privacy Policy

Final meteor shower of 2018 goes next weekend

Residents looking for some late night entertainment may want to bundle up next weekend and witness the final meteor shower of 2018.

According to the Backyard Astronomer Gary Boyle, the annual Geminid meteor shower is set to hit the sky the night of December 13th.

<who> Photo Credit: File Photo </who>

Boyle explained that the moon will set at 10:30 p.m. on the 13th, making the meteors visible. He added that the best time to see the maximum number of meteors is after midnight towards dawn when the constellation is highest in the sky.

Boyle mentioned that this specific shower produces 120 meteors per hour as sand-sized particles from asteroid 3200 Phaethon, completely vaporizing as they strike the atmosphere at 35km/sec. The Geminid also produce occasional fireballs that can light up the ground.

<who> Photo Credit: Gary Boyle </who>

In addition to the shower, Boyle said that Comet 46P/Wirtanen is now visible in the southern sky. Throughout December the comet will grow larger and brighter as it races northward. The comet's closest approach to earth will be on December 16th when it's 11.5 million kilometres away.

Boyle went on to say that both the comet and meteors should become bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from the countryside with no moon present.



If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.

If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.


Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to news@kelownanow.com.



Weather
webcam icon

weather-icon
Fri
12℃

weather-icon
Sat
12℃

weather-icon
Sun
14℃

weather-icon
Mon
16℃

weather-icon
Tue
20℃

weather-icon
Wed
11℃

current feed webcam icon

Recent Livestream




Top Stories

Follow Us

Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Linkedin Follow us on Youtube Listen on Soundcloud Follow Our TikTok Feed Follow Our RSS Follow Our pinterest Feed
Follow Our Newsletter
Privacy Policy