Dark skies to enhance peak of Geminids meteor shower this week
This week, the Geminids, the most impressive meteor shower of the year, will reach its peak. Observers of the night sky have the opportunity to witness an astonishing sight, with the possibility of spotting up to one or even two shooting stars per minute in the dark expanse above.
The meteors reach their fury on Thursday. But Wednesday night should also provide a cosmic spectacle.
The moon is waning, so it offers excellent viewing anywhere in the world where the sky is clear and where there is no light pollution.
NASA urged observers to look all over the sky because meteors don’t come from any particular direction. Weather permitting, 60-120 meteors are expected every hour during peak hours.
NASA meteoroid expert Bill Cooke said he loves that the Geminids have a greenish hue as they speed through the sky and burn up. Most meteors appear to be colorless or white depending on their chemical composition. Green usually comes from oxygen, magnesium and nickel.
Most meteor showers originate from comets. However, the Geminids originate from the sun-orbiting asteroid 3200 Phaethon. In any case, when Earth passes through these leftover comets or asteroids, the fragments encounter Earth’s atmosphere and appear.
