‘One of the best’ meteor showers peaks over Boise this week. Here’s when and how to watch
The Geminid meteor shower will take place this week beginning Tuesday night, and Treasure Valley stargazers could see 30 to 40 meteors per hour, depending on weather conditions.
The event is considered to be “one of the best and most reliable” annual meteor showers, according to NASA.
The shower will begin around 10 or 11 p.m. Mountain time on Dec. 13, NASA says, and will peak around 7 a.m. Dec. 14. If you’re up at 2 a.m. Dec. 14, you may see more meteors, but it’s possible to spot Geminids until Dec. 17.
“The show will last for most of the night, so you have multiple opportunities to spot the brilliant streaks of light across our sky,” NASA’s website states.
When the weather is perfect, and the shower is at its peak activity level, you can spot anywhere from 100 to 150 Geminids per hour, NASA reports. But this week’s waning gibbous moon will interfere, reducing visible meteors.
NASA offers these stargazing tips to improve your experience:
Find an area away from the city and streetlights.
Bundle up and lay flat on your back with your feet facing south.
It will take approximately 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark so you can see the meteors.
Refrain from looking at your cell phone or other bright objects to keep your eyes adjusted.
The 2022 Geminid meteor shower began on Nov. 19 and originates from 3200 Phaethon, which NASA describes as an asteroid or possible “rock comet.”
Geminid meteors travel about 22 miles per second or 79,000 miles per hour, according to NASA. The Geminids first appeared in the mid-1800s and are bright and typically yellow.
Weather in Boise
National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Smith told the Idaho Statesman that he thinks it may be difficult to view the meteor shower in the Treasure Valley during the shower’s peak on Tuesday night, but there will be some breaks in the cloud cover.
“Being at a higher elevation would definitely be better above this lower cloud deck that we have,” Smith said.
Smith said the cloud ceiling — the height at which the lowest cloud base is above the ground — will be around 5,000 feet. He mentioned that Bogus Basin would be an excellent spot to view the Geminids, with the mountain’s base at 5,800 feet.
Stargazers will also have to deal with frigid temperatures as arctic air pushes into Idaho. The Weather Service forecasts a low temperature of 18 degrees on Tuesday night heading into Wednesday morning.
