The Geminid Meteor Shower is position to illume up the nighttime sky on December 13 and 14 . Do n’t be put off by the cold weather – this is one of the inviolable meteoroid showers of the year , and the favorable conditions of the lunation should ensure they ’re dead visible .

The Geminid Meteor Showerlastsfrom November 19 to December 24 , but its crown of activity will be on December 13 and 14 . Around these dates , there will be a unseasoned waxing crescent Sun Myung Moon , see to it the spectacle is n’t drown out by moonshine .

During a strong twelvemonth , theGeminid meteor showercan have a summit rate of around 100 meteoroid per hour . grant to NASA , perceiver in rural areas should carry to see upwards of one meteor per minute this year .

“ Most meteors come out to be colorless or white , however the Geminids seem with agreenish chromaticity , ” Bill Cooke , headway of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA ’s Marshall Space Flight Center , enjoin in astatement .

“ They ’re pretty shooting star ! ”

The Geminidsare visible from both hemisphere , but mass populate in our planet ’s Northern Hemisphere will have a better fortune to see them . As ever , the best means to consider the shower will be in a dark place far away from artificial light ( that includes sound screens ) . You should also steer outside early and allow your eye acclimatize to the abject clean conditions .

In case you ca n’t catch them in person , there will also be a alive flow of the effect broadcasted bythe Virtual Telescope Project , which you may catch in the player above .

When you see a meteor streak across the sky , you are witnessing a tiny bit of distance junk crashing into Earth ’s atmosphere , let go of vigour in its terminal demise . Sometimes , the object is no bigger than a grain of guts , but it can still produce beautiful , long streaks across the sky .

Most showers are caused bycomets – icy balls of space dust – as they orbit past Earth , but the Geminids are have by an asteroid – typically made of stone . The asteroid in question is3200 Phaethon , a 5.8 kilometer ( 3.6 mile ) wide space rock whose orbit can travel very nigh to the Sun . Unlike many asteroids , Phaethon is in a comet - like orbit and free rubble , which make up the Geminids , possibly due to extreme heating system when it orbit near the Sun .

It ’s believed that the Geminid shower is intensifying every class , so fingers crossed that 2023 ’s light show will be another one to remember !