Get ready for meteor showers

By CAROL LEE LUTSINGER | NASA/JPL SOLAR SYSTEM AMBASSADOR

Welcome to winter, y’all. Get ready for the Geminid meteor shower at mid-month, with the peak set for December 12. The New Moon will make it more likely to see meteors streaking across the sky. A team of friends out together watching makes an even more enjoyable event. December evenings bring so many beautiful constellations into view as darkness sets in.

Although winter does not officially begin until December 21, we can expect more of our winter constellations to be visible in the east after sunset since the stars “rise” four minutes earlier until the winter solstice. On that day we will have about 9 hours and twenty minutes of daylight. Perhaps you have noticed that the sun is not as high in the sky and that it is not in your eyes as you drive to and from work. Just wait awhile and it will be! From this point, the sun will rise a few minutes earlier each day and set a few minutes later until mid-June. This amazing pattern continues to repeat itself because Earth travels at mathematically predictable speeds and in a predictable path. This would be an interesting science fair project, tracking the height of the sun for the next several months, or graphing the times of official sunrise and sunset over a period of weeks.

Seasons’ greetings, whatever day this month is one of special significance in your culture! People around the globe celebrate several religious observances and cultural events during the winter which date back to prehistoric times. The short dark days of winter were fearful to ancient people and bringing bonfires and as much light as possible during those long lonely weeks of little sun were a vital part of early cultures.

As you have a bit of family time during the next couple of weeks, you may think about the guiding star that is part of the Christmas story. Scientists may debate what it was, people of faith accept that it WAS. We can enjoy the same regular stars that shone over Bethlehem and think about that one star that announced the special baby born 2000 years ago and exult in the wonder of it all. In fact, the very fact that a star and astronomers figures so prominently in the observance of Christmas is one reason I enjoy the science of astronomy so much.

Star patterns in the sky year-round include circumpolar constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major https://www.aavso.org/myths-uma in the north, along with Cassiopeia https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210123.html and Cepheus circling about Polaris in Ursa Minor. As darkness sets in, the W or M of Cassiopeia’s stars is high in the northwest quadrant of the sky and the Big Dipper asterism is circling Polaris in the low northeast. The two forward stars of the bowl of the Big Dipper point directly to Polaris; I call them the Pointer Sisters. (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130421.html) The unique position of Polaris in the sky helps navigators to find their way in the Northern Hemisphere because Polaris is as many degrees above the horizon as the latitude of the viewer. Those ancient astronomers who figured out geometry gave math students something to stress over and explorers something to get home by. If you are a geometry teacher, show your students those angles using astronomy and open new vistas for each of you.