The Geminid meteor shower is one of the few large meteor showers that originate from asteroids, peaking on Friday. This is one of the last chances of the year to see a fireball in the sky.
Sally Brummell, planetarium manager at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, said this meteor shower often produces meteors with a distinctly more yellow glow, perhaps because their source material is rarer.
Under ideal viewing conditions, the Geminid meteor shower usually puts on one of the brightest shows of the year, with a large number of meteors visible every hour. However, this year’s nearly full moon means up to 15 meteors per hour are expected at peak times, according to the American Meteor Society.
Moonlight “will wash away a lot of that,” Brummell said.
Observations will continue until December 21st. Here’s what you need to know about the Geminid meteor shower and other meteor showers.
What is a meteor shower?
Meteor showers occur multiple times each year, and you don’t need special equipment to observe them.
Most meteor showers originate from comet debris, but some meteor showers, including the Geminids, originate from asteroid debris. The Geminid meteor shower comes from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which orbits the Sun.
When rocks from space enter Earth’s atmosphere, they become extremely hot due to the resistance from the air. This causes the air around them to glow, leaving behind them for a moment the end of a fiery tail, or “shooting star.”
Pockets of glowing air around fast-moving space rocks, ranging in size from dust particles to rocks, may be visible in the night sky.
NASA’s William Cook said the Geminid meteor shower was particularly likely to produce bolides due to the rocky nature of the asteroid debris. “They are fairly hard rocks that can penetrate deep into the atmosphere,” he said.
How to see meteor showers
Meteor showers are usually best visible between midnight and before dawn.
Shooting stars are easier to see under dark skies away from city lights. Meteor showers also appear brightest on cloudless nights when the moon’s eclipse is smallest.
Also, your eyes will be better adapted to seeing meteors if you aren’t checking your phone.
When is the next meteor shower?
The next meteor shower, the Ursa Minoris, will peak on December 22nd.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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