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The Geminids meteor shower is the dirty trail streaming out behind an asteroid called object 3200 Phaethon. This makes the Geminids one of the only major meteor showers not coming from a comet. These meteors are slower moving than most meteor showers, about 22 miles per second, making them fairly easy to spot.

They usually peak around the 13th - 14th of the month, with the date of highest intensity being the morning of the 14th. The shower is thought to be intensifying every year and recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, generally around 2am to 3am local time.

The Radiant 

The radiant is the point in space where it appears all the meteors are coming from. As you see a meteor streak across the sky, try to trace it back to where it came from. You will find that as you trace them all back, they will appear to fan out from a central point. This is called the radiant. The Geminids are so-called because the radiant is in the direction of the constellation Gemini, (The Twins). More precisely, next to the star Castor.

Visibility should be good if there are no clouds, as it will be a very dark sky with no moon. 

 Photographing the Geminids.

Meteors are quite safe to look at and are great to photograph. Use a camera with a wide angle lens on a tripod to cover as much sky as you can. You can experiment with your ISO depending on your camera, but anywhere from ISO 800 to ISO 1600 should be ball-park. Set your shutter to 20 or 30 seconds, aperture as wide open as you can and use the timer delay or a remote shutter release so you don't vibrate the camera when you take the shot.You may get one or two in the 30 second photo, you may get none, you may get a stunner! Just trip the shutter again for another 30 seconds and keep at it!

If you want to know more about taking these kinds of shots, pleas view my astrophotography tutorial here. Scroll down the the part about widefield astrophotography.

Good luck and God bless! 

 P.S. And just to show what can be done with a cheap Canon 400D DSLR with a standard 18-55mm kit lens, here is a shot of an Orionid meteor I shot in 2009.

With all the excitement over the Solar Eclipse, don't forget to set your alarm for the annual Leonid meteor shower.

The Leonids are the dusty trail of chunks of rock and ice  left in the wake of the periodic comet, Temple-Tuttle. Once a year, the Earth passes through this trail and encounters this debris as it skips off our atmosphere. Sometimes the trail is really dirty with lots of junk, other times it is relatively quiet. There have been times in past centuries where the whole sky looked like it was, "on fire" due to the amount of meteors in the sky.

The Radiant

The radiant is the point in space where it appears all the meteors are coming from. As you see a meteor streak across the sky, try to trace it back to where it came from. You will find that as you trace them all back, they will appear to fan out from a central point. This is called the radiant. The Leonids are so-called because the radiant is in the direction of the constellation Leo.

Unfortunately for us in the southern hemisphere, the constellation Leo is low in the north eastern sky just prior to dawn, rising higher as the morning progresses. However, if you get up before there is any light in the sky, you could see quite a few meteors per hour. This year we have little to no moon to add to our problems, so you might get lucky.Get up early around 3am and you should see a few. The best nights are the peak on the 17th/18th.

Photographing the Leonids.

Meteors are quite safe to look at and are great to photograph. Use a camera with a wide angle lens on a tripod to cover as much sky as you can. You can experiment with your ISO depending on your camera, but anywhere from ISO 800 to ISO 1600 should be ball-park. Set your shutter to 20 or 30 seconds, aperture as wide open as you can and use the timer delay or a remote shutter release so you don't vibrate the camera when you take the shot.You may get one or two in the30 second photo, you may get none, you may get a stunner! Just trip the shutter again for another 30 seconds and keep at it!

If you want to know more about taking these kinds of shots, pleas view my astrophotography tutorial here. Scroll down the the part about widefield astrophotography.

Good luck and God bless!

That God-guy. ;) 

A Solar Eclipse happens when the Sun, Moon and Earth are all in a straight line with the Moon in between the Earth and Sun. This casts a shadow in a path across some of the Earth.

The sun at any time can only be viewed through special filters in the form of glasses over your eyes or covers over binoculars, telescopes and camera lenses. NEVER look at the sun unless you have suitable protection.*See warning below*

Right:  Geometry of a Solar Eclipse.If you look at the darker shadow where it touches the Earth, you can see that only a very small part of the Earth gets to see the whole show.

"I have only ever seen a lunar eclipse two Venus transits and a very tiny partial Solar eclipse, but I can tell you that seeing these things together and thinking about the great distance as you watch, can put some reality and perspective in your soul that no science documentary can ever do." Barry Armstead.

There are two main types of Solar eclipse you are likely to witness - Partial and total. A total Solar Eclipse is when the Moon completely covers the Sun from your vantage point on Earth and can only be seen across a very small track on the ground approximately 150km wide. If you are lucky enough to be in that location at the time you will see, "Totality". 

For us in Australia, the total eclipse tracks across from Arnhem Land early morning on the 14th November, crosses the Gulf of Carpentaria and then across to Cairns at 6:39am. Cairns will see totality for just over 2 minutes with the sun low in the morning sky. It then heads across the Pacific ocean towards South America.

Totality is described as one of the the most awesome natural phenomena that you will ever see. People save up all their lives to travel great distance to see one. When totality is reached, car-horns blow, people whistle, cheer, cry and break down in an emotional climax that can't be described. 

Above: Totality - The moon covers the sun completely and exactly, revealing the dynamic corona of the sun's outer atmosphere.

Not everyone will see totality though. Even though the moon is big (about the size of Australia) it only casts a shadow over a narrow path across the earth as we spin around. For the rest of us in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, we will only see a partial eclipse. The further North and East you are, the bigger the shadow of the partial eclipse will look.


During a partial Solar Eclipse the Moon only partly covers the Sun, but can be seen over a wider area of Earth. The sun will look like a big white biscuit with a bite taken out of it. If the bite is really big, it will get dark here on the ground, like heavy cloud darkens a day.

Right: A partial solar eclipse as the moon steps in the way of the sun. *Photographed through special filters. See warning below*

  *WARNING!*