One of the larger meteor showers this year is Sunday night and Monday morning, and there just might be decent viewing in the Augusta area.
Dr. Gary Senn, the director of the DuPont Planetarium at the University of South Carolina Aiken, said he has already started receiving phone calls about the Geminid meteor shower, which he said should peak about midnight Sunday and into the predawn hours Monday.
"This is in the top five of the year of meteor showers," he said.
Those staying up late for the shower could get quite a show, Dr. Senn said.
The moon will be in its smallest phase and below the horizon just before sunrise, so the meteor shower should stand out in the darkness.
However, city lights could affect the shower's visibility.
Those in rural areas, he said, will have the best viewing.
The weather also might cooperate.
Hunter Coleman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C., said there should be only a little cloud cover around midnight Sunday and that should completely clear up in the hours before sunrise.
Dr. Senn said the shower's rate is expected to be as high as 200 meteorites per hour, "which is high."
Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 828-3851 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
IF YOU GO
The Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy is offering a Geminid Meteor Shower Walk event at 9 p.m. Sunday at Phinizy Swamp Nature Park on Lock and Dam Road. The experience includes a guided hike to a remote seating area and viewing of area constellations and the meteor shower. Cost is $8 for academy members and $10 for nonmembers. For more information, call (706) 828-2109.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
