Geminids Meteor Shower on Display Saturday Night
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NASA/MSFC/B. Cooke, NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office(NEW YORK) — It’s that time of year again, when streaks of bright light and fireballs fly through the sky for the annual Geminids meteor shower.
Star enthusiasts can catch the show Saturday night and into Sunday morning, when the meteor shower reaches its peak. The show will be visible, as long as you’re far away from bright city lights.
“This year’s Geminid meteor shower will peak on Dec. 13 and 14 with as many as 120 meteors per hour,” Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to a good display.”
The shower happens every December, when Earth glides into a stream of space debris left over from an extinct comet called 3200 Phaethon.
The meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini. Meteors shoot out of the constellation, producing many fireballs.
The Geminids are older than the Civil War and were first documented in the early 19th century.
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