The annual meteor shower Geminids will be at its peak later this month. Sky-watchers are in for a treat as this meteor shower promises to be one of the most spectacular this year.
Geminids will peak during the overnight hours between Dec. 13 and Dec. 14 in North America. It is within this time window that stargazers will witness a shower that boasts anywhere between 20 to 120 meteors per hour.
Furthermore, this year's Geminids will not be outshined by a supermoon.
Last year's Geminid shower was less impressive because a supermoon light was in full brightness — obscuring the subtle streaks of the said annual shower.
Meteors showers get their name from the constellations they radiate from. Knowing this, the best time to watch Geminids is when the Gemini constellation is just about rising above the eastern horizon. This is at about 9 p.m local time in North America.
The best place to watch the showers is where the sky is darkest. Places away from excessive city lights would be able to witness up to 120 meteors per hour at the showers' peak. Meanwhile, skies in light-polluted locations will appear less impressive, with 20 to 60 meteors per hour.
The position in the hemisphere is a factor as well. Observers in the Southern Hemisphere can still enjoy the Geminids meteor shower. However, since the constellation Gemini does not rise too far above the horizon in this region, the showers will be less impressive than the ones seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
Meteor showers are formed when the earth's atmosphere comes into contact with debris left by a space rock. Most of the individual debris is no bigger than a grain of sand. Still, they produce a beautiful light show called meteor showers when they heat up the air around them.
Most of the debris just disintegrate before they reach the Earth's surface. However, there are some that do make landfall. When a space rock touches land, it is then called a meteorite.
