The Geminids, one of this year’s most spectacular meteor showers, will peak in the sky this week.
One of the most spectacular meteor showers is making its annual return on Thursday night.
The Geminid meteor shower occurs every December, when the Earth passes through the tail of debris from a 3-mile-wide rocky object in space named 3200 Phaethon. As the object’s fragments run into our planet’s atmosphere, they burn up and create streaks of light — shooting stars.
As many as 100 meteors per hour could be seen shooting across the sky when the Geminid show peaks a few hours before dawn on Friday. Moving at about 79,000 mph, the Geminids can look as bright as planet Venus, according to USA Today.
The shower is named after the constellation Gemini because the shooting stars seem to radiate from a spot near Castor, a bright star in the constellation.
You won’t need telescopes or binoculars to see the meteors, but the show will look most dramatic if you’re in a dark area. Light from the moon makes it harder to see some fainter meteors, so it’s best to wait until it sets to head outside. For most people in the United States, that should happen around 10:30 p.m. local time.
People far from urban areas will see the most meteors per minute, though suburban residents could see about 30 or 40 meteors an hour.
