The "twin" a strong meteor shower invade the sky

   

The International Astronomy Center reported that the sky in the Arab region, during the next two nights, is witnessing a meteor shower called "twin," and occurs every year on December 14th.

Mohammed Shaukat Odeh, director of the International Astronomy Centre, a member of the International Meteor Organization, said the meteor shower swells slowly, making it appear for a longer period of time at a speed of 35 kilometers per second, and was named after it because all its meteors appear to be from a fictitious point in the twin group.

Odeh pointed out that the cause of this meteor is an asteroid named "Phaethon", and this asteroid behaves like comets sometimes escapes from it dust granules that remain swimming in its orbit, and some see that this asteroid is in fact the nucleus of an ancient comet, and when the Earth approaches the orbit of the asteroid every year on December 14, these granules are attracted Dust towards the Earth, enter the atmosphere, burn and ionizing the atmosphere, the meteors we see, according to the UAE News Agency (WAM).

The number of meteors of "twin" at peak time is about 120 meteors per hour, but this figure can only be seen from a completely dark place far from the lighting of cities for a short period near peak time, and from the areas where the twin group is high on the horizon.

As for monitoring from inside the city, it is not expected to see more than ten meteors per hour at best.

Odeh explained that those interested in seeing these meteors must monitor from a dark place, and look at the sky starting at around ten in the evening, and the meteors increase with time, but they increase significantly after midnight, and by approaching the dawn time, and the number of meteors is greater whenever it is the observer is closer to the peak time.