One of the best meteor showers of the year reaches its peak this week, and if conditions are clear, experts say skywatchers could receive around 120 shooting stars per hour.
The annual Geminid meteor shower has been active since late November, and shooting stars will peak Wednesday night into the early hours of Thursday. According to NASA, the Geminids are considered one of the best and most reliable meteor showers of the year. Under ideal conditions (clear weather and away from light pollution), stargazers might see more than one meteor per minute crossing the night sky. This year, there will be minimal moonlight to interfere with the sky's colorful display, NASA said.
The Geminids are known to be bright, fast meteors, often yellowish or white in color, although they can also be green, red and even blue. “Most meteors appear colorless or white, however the Geminids appear with a greenish hue. They are beautiful meteorites! Bill Cooke, leader of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a blog post earlier this month. Shooting stars can be seen everywhere in the world and are best seen at night and before dawn. The meteors will appear to stream from the constellation Gemini, which will rise in the northeastern sky.
According to NASA, it is best to view the Geminids while sitting or lying down with your feet facing south. The best vantage point is away from city lights and other forms of light pollution, in a location that allows you to see as much of the sky as possible. It's also best to let your eyes adjust to the dark for about 30 minutes. Meteors will begin to be visible around 9 p.m. or 10pm local time, but skywatchers who go out even later, between midnight and 2am, can enjoy a more impressive celestial spectacle. For people in the Northern Hemisphere, this probably means bundling up and preparing for cold winter conditions.
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through large clouds of debris left behind by comets or asteroids. When these particles hit the planet's atmosphere, they vaporize and appear as rays of light moving rapidly across the sky.
The Geminids come from the remnants of an asteroid called 3200 Phaeton, which takes 524 days to circle the sun. The small space rock, measuring about 5 kilometers in diameter, was first discovered in 1983. Although the Geminids will peak this week, the meteor shower will remain active until December 24, according to NASA.
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