Stargazers are in for a treat this December as one of the brightest annual displays is expected to light up the sky.
The Geminid meteor shower can be seen between the 4th and 16th December each year and because of the brightness of the individual meteors, it’s considered to be one of the best to observe.
The celestial event is said to be nearly 200 years old and, according to Space.com, it’s getting stronger each year thanks to Jupiter’s gravity pulling the stream of particles from the shower’s source – the asteroid 3200 Phaethon – closer to Earth.
‘The Geminids are known to be one the most spectacular meteor showers of the year,’ Dhara Patel, Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told Country Living. ‘The hourly rate could be as high as 120 meteors per hour at its peak in ideal conditions. Even though you’re likely to see far less , the meteors are bright and with the waning crescent moon remaining below the horizon until the early morning it’s well worth trying to catch a few.’
The shower, which can be observed from around the world, will peak on the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th of December. This means after midnight at around 2am will be the ideal time to keep a look out.
It’s not the only sky show to enjoy in December – the brightest supermoon of 2017 is on the way, too.
The spectacle known as the cold moon will occur on 3rd December, when it will appear about about seven percent larger than the average full moon.
