Hello All!   
      
   A New Meteor Shower in December?        
      
   Dec. 11, 2012:  If you're outdoors after sunset this week, be alert for   
   meteors. Not only is the Geminid meteor shower active as Earth passes through   
   a stream of debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon, but also, say forecasters,   
   a new meteor shower could make an appearance.    
      
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPPGF3KrMQ   
      
   Comet 46P/Wirtanen. Photo credit: T. Credner, J. Jockers, T.Bonev /   
   Max-Planck-Institut fur Aeronomie, [more] "The source of the new shower is   
   Comet Wirtanen," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Dust   
   from this comet hitting Earth's atmosphere could produce as many as 30 meteors   
   per hour."    
      
   Comet Wirtanen was discovered in 1948, just after World War II, and takes 5.4   
   years to orbit the sun. It reaches its closest point to the sun just outside   
   Earth's orbit. Although this comet has skirted Earth's orbit many times, Earth   
   has not run into its debris streams before. 2012 could be different.   
      
   Computer models run by Russian forecaster Mikhail Maslov predict as many as   
   four stream crossings between Dec. 10th and 14th.   
      
   "This time period also includes the peak of the strong annual Geminid meteor   
   shower," notes Cooke.   
      
   To sky watchers, he recommends having a "meteor night" after sunset on Dec.   
   13th, when the criss-crossing debris streams could produce the greatest   
   combined number of shooting stars. "Meteors from the new shower (if any) will   
   be visible in the early evening, with the Geminids making their appearance   
   later on and lasting until dawn," he says.    
      
   The new shower doesn't have a name yet. Before naming it, astronomers will   
   wait to see if it is real. If any meteors do materialize, they might be called   
   "Piscids." The shower's radiant is located in the constellation Pisces,   
   according to Maslov's dynamical models of the debris stream. Maslov also   
   predicts that the meteors will be very slow moving, which should help novice   
   sky watchers distinguish them from the faster Geminids.    
      
   http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2012/12/11/skymap_newshower.gif   
      
   Looking south after sunset in mid-December. Meteors from the new shower, if   
   any, would emerge from a radiant in the constellation Pisces. A similar map is   
   available for the Geminids.    
      
   Meteor hunting on Dec. 13-14 is a no-lose proposition because, as Cooke points   
   out, even if the new shower is a dud, the Geminids should be great. With no   
   glaring Moon to spoil the show, observers in rural areas should be able to see   
   as many as 120 Geminid meteors every hour. The best time to look is during the   
   dark hours before sunrise on Friday, Dec. 14th.   
      
   Enjoy the show(s).    
      
      
   Author: Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit:   
   Science@NASA   
      
      
   Regards,   
      
   Roger    
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna - (1:3828/7)