Join the Houston A
stronomical Society on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, for a FREE star party. We’re going to be at Sheldon Lake State Park that night to look for Geminid meteors as they enter the earth’s atmosphere. The Geminids are one of the best meteor showers of the year, and under ideal conditions, as many as 120 mteors can be seen per hour (skies with more light pollution will cause this number to drop.)
The Geminids are believed to be from debris originating from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. As the earth crosses the debris stream, particles slam into the atmosphere at around 22 miles per second! That’s what creates the “shooting star” streak across the sky.
In addition to meteor hunting, we’ll also have a number of telescopes on hand to look for other deep-sky objects. Entry to Sheldon Lake State Park is free, and this event is for all age groups.
Bring a chair or blanket to lay on – this will be helpful for staring up at the meteors, as well as bug spray, and a red flashlight, if you have one. We want to avoid using white light, as to give us a chance to get better adapted to the dark skies.
If you have any questions, email outreach@astronomyhouston.org. We’ll see you there!
Where to find Geminids (facing ENE on Dec. 13 at 9:00 PM):
