Under ideal conditions, skywatchers would be able to see multiple meteors streaking across the sky every minute.
If the sky is clear, meteor watchers might see 120 shooting stars per hour during one of the best meteor showers of the year, which peaks tonight.
Shooting stars will reach their peak on Wednesday night into early Thursday during the annual Geminids meteor shower, which began in late November.
If you ask NASA, the Geminids are among the year’s best and most consistent meteor showers. In a perfect world, free of light pollution and with clear skies, stargazers could see multiple meteors streaking across the sky every minute.
According to NASA, there will be very little moonlight to distort the spectacular sky display this year.
Meteors known as Geminids are known to be bright and fast-moving; their colors can range from yellowish white to green, red, and even blue.
The majority of meteors have a colorless or white appearance, but the Geminids have a greenish tint. Such beautiful meteors!
Nighttime or just before sunrise is the best time to see the shooting stars, but you can see them no matter where you are in the globe. As they ascend in the northeastern sky, meteors will seem to be streaming from the constellation Gemini.
Sitting or lying down with your feet facing south is the best position to view the Geminids, according to NASA. To get the clearest view of the night sky, choose a location far from any artificial light sources, such as city lights.
Your eyes will need about half an hour to acclimate to the darkness, so be patient. Observers who venture out between midnight and 2 a.m. local time may be in for a more spectacular sky display, although meteors will become visible around 9 or 10 p.m. local time. This probably means that folks in the Northern Hemisphere should get ready for some cold weather gear.
Asteroids and comets leave behind large clouds of debris that Earth can pass through, causing meteor showers. Upon impact with Earth’s atmosphere, these particles dissipate into thin vapor trails that race across the sky.
The 3200 Phaethon asteroid, which completes one full orbit around the sun in 524 days, is the source of the Geminids. Discovered for the first time in 1983, the little space rock has a diameter of about 3.2 miles.
According to NASA, the Geminid meteor shower will continue until December 24th, even though it peaks tonight.
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