It may be cold, but you can enjoy these meteor showers this winter in Northwest Indiana. To best see meteor showers as well as the constellations, you’ll want to head to the darkest sky possible. We recommend heading away from the bright lights of downtowns and city centers and let your eye adjust to the dark sky. While a telescope is recommended, you can also use a pair of binoculars to see comets, meteors and stars.
While the Leonids are over their peak viewing time, you may be able to catch a few bright meteors through the end of November in the northern hemisphere.
The Geminids will peak on December 13-14, 2020, and you won’t want to miss this meteor shower. This major shower should be bright and intensely colored. Be sure to look up prior to midnight. You may be able to catch some of the Geminids starting on December 4 on through December 17.
The Ursids will put on a show in the night sky from December 17 to December 26, 2020 with a peak night on the 21. Looking up, you may see 5-10 Ursids per hour during the late morning hours. While their rate (meteors per hour) is lower than the Geminds, you still may catch some of this shower.
The Quadrantids may be your best bet to see a meteor shower, but within a shorter timeframe and the chance of poor weather leading to low visibility. The average hourly rate is 25 and often will produce bright fireballs. This shower starts on December 27, 2020 to January 10, 2021 with a peak on January 2.
For updates and recommendations for observing celestial events follow the Calumet Astronomical Society on Facebook or enter your location at theskylive.com/guide to see planets, constellations, comets and more.
