Earthgrazers and the moon this weekend
One of the strongest meteor showers of the year peaks today! The only problem is, the meteors occur mostly during the daylight hours. So, nearly all will not be visible. But, just after sunset and before dawn through the weekend, keep an eye skyward and try to catch an "Earthgrazer". The meteors can be majestic, slowly crossing the sky. But, they are rare.
(see example of an earth grazer below)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Ashley in Glacier National Park, Montana, caught this amazing earthgrazer meteor on December 6, 2018. Earthgrazers are best seen in the evening hours. Watch for them during this week’s Geminid meteor shower. <a href="https://t.co/WX23c4JnpW">pic.twitter.com/WX23c4JnpW</a></p>— David Crook (@StellarInsights) <a href="https://twitter.com/StellarInsights/status/1072878247728168961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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This meteor shower is called the Arietid meteors. The originate from a point that is very close to the sun, this is why we can't seen them very easily. But, this shower has a notorious history, it is likely that a meteor from this shower was responsible for the Tunguska event in June of 1908 when an exploding meteor leveled hundreds of square miles of a Siberian forest.
Graphic was made using staratlas.com
Later in the evening this weekend, you will be able to track the moon through two summer constellations, Leo and Virgo. It will pass through Virgo Friday and Saturday night, then through Virgo early next week.
Graphic was made using staratlas.com
On Monday, the Earth will be directly between Jupiter and the sun. This is referred to as Jupiter's opposition.
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