Avid sky-gazers spend all year anticipating the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Now, it’s finally here.
This weekend, dozens of meteors, including some especially brilliant ones called fireballs, are expected to streak across the night sky in a dazzling display. The celestial event is widely considered one of the year’s best meteor showers.
The Geminids are expected to peak, or reach maximum activity, from 10 p.m. ET Saturday through early Sunday, according to EarthSky.
During this year’s event, the moon will be 34% full, so under clear weather conditions many suburban stargazers could see as many as 20 meteors per hour. People in areas with partially dark skies could glimpse 40 to 50 meteors during the peak window, while some rural residents may have the chance to see as many as one meteor per minute, according to Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society.
For best viewing, those in the Northern Hemisphere should look low in the east at around 10 p.m. local time, while those in the Southern Hemisphere should watch the northen sky around 2 a.m.
The meteors visible around 10 p.m. are called Earth-grazers and they tend to last longer than normal, Lunsford said. “And the reason for that is they don’t penetrate the atmosphere as deeply as the ones that we see later on at night, so they tend to last longer, by a second or two, and they tend to be a lot longer” in length.
The Geminids are known to produce fireballs, which appear brighter than any stars or planets in the sky. Fireballs are easy to spot since they’re often colorful and last longer than other meteors, Lunsford added.
The Geminids also present a great opportunity for photographers.
“They’re slower than the Perseids and Leonids, so they tend to show up better on time exposures. So those that have cameras, that can keep their shutter open, I would set it between 15 seconds and 30 seconds and just keep shooting throughout the night,” Lunsford said.
If you’re unable to watch for meteors Saturday night, don’t worry. The Geminids will be visible in the days leading up to the peak and for a few days afterward.
But it’s better to go out a day or two earlier than later “because the peak of the Geminids is not perfectly symmetrical,” Lunsford said. “It has a slow rise to the peak, and as soon as the maximum occurs, it drops off really fast. So, it’s better to observe before the maximum.”
The moon will be brighter during the nights leading up to the peak, given that a full moon occurred on December 4, but as long as you’re outside before the moon rises and you keep your back toward it, you should still be able to glimpse a few meteors.
The Geminids are made up of debris released from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The asteroid’s close orbit around the sun causes it to shed particles due to the extreme heat, leaving a stream of meteors around the entire orbit. Earth passes through the debris trail each year, leading to an impressive meteor shower. Some of the denser debris results in Geminid fireballs.
The meteors will appear to come from the direction of the Gemini constellation, which “rises in the east right about sunset and is highest in the sky at about 2 o’clock in the morning,” Lunsford said, “and it’ll be setting in the west as the sun rises, so you can pretty much see them all night.”
The next and final meteor shower of the year is the Ursids, expected to peak the night of December 21 into the early morning hours of December 22, according to the American Meteor Society and EarthSky.
The moon will be a barely visible waxing crescent, guaranteeing dark skies.
The meteor shower will peak during the winter solstice, or the official beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere when it is the farthest from the sun. The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, creating the perfect opportunity for sky-gazers.