I live in South Carolina, if I want to see this years Geminid Meteor shower what day and time should i look?

Question

I keep seeing the night of December 13-14, does that mean both nights or just the night of the 13th? I would really appreciate any insight you could offer. thank you.

Answer 1

You should be able to find your answer here in these results, I live in SC also and plan to be watching the night of the 13th,,

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=spaceweather.com&fr=ush-360

Answer 2

December 13-14 means the night that starts at sunset on December 13 and ends at sunrise on December 14. That is Thursday night. There will be some meteors visible the night before and the day after, but not nearly as many as Thursday night. Normally, the later at night you look the more meteors you see, because the radiant (the point in the sky where the meteors appear to come from) hasn't risen yet. So if you don't see any early in the evening, try again later, like midnight or later. The only problem is that the real peak activity in this shower will happen before the radiant rises in most of the US, so the better viewing geometry will be offset by the declining number of meteors at the later time. When the shower peaks, people in Hawaii will get a great view but people on the East coast will be on the wrong side of the planet. Later, when the planet rotates South Carolina into a better place to see them, the numbers will already be much lower. So for you the ideal time will be somewhere in between, later than end of twilight, because the meteors are hitting the Pacific then, but earlier than midnight because the shower will be declining by then.

Answer 3

The night of December 13/14 means the night which begins on the 13th and ends on the morning of the 14th...it's a way of avoiding confusion because the date cahnges at midnight. For tose of us in the eastern time zone, either the 13/14 or the 14/15 should be about equally good, since the peak of the shower is around noon EST on the 14th (not midnight, as one person keeps posting here).