[meteorite-list] Significant Sungrazing Comet + Geminid Meteor Shower

[Ron Baalke]

Space Weather News for Dec. 13, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER:  Earth is passing through a stream of 
debris from near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, source of the 
annual Geminid meteor shower.  Forecasters expect meteor rates 
to reach 20-to-40 per hour when the shower peaks in bright 
moonlight on the night of Dec.13/14.  The best time to look, 
no matter where you live, is between 10 pm local time on 
Tuesday, Dec. 13, and sunrise on Wednesday, Dec. 14th. 
Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and live 
audio from a meteor radar.

BIG SUNDIVING COMET: A comet nearly as wide as two football 
fields (200m) is plunging toward the sun where it will most 
likely be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16. 
Solar glare will hide the event from human eyes, but NASA and 
ESA spacecraft should have a grand view.  Check 
http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.