ORLANDO, Fla. – Arguably the best meteor shower of the year peaks Monday night.
The Geminids, like this summer’s Perseids, produce a great deal of shooting stars, but there is a noteworthy difference between the two: Color.
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Most of the meteor showers witnessed on Earth are comet debris that crosses Earth’s orbit. The Geminids are made up of debris from an asteroid, meaning different elements are present. These elements burn at different colors as the dust-size particles burn up in the atmosphere.
Typically, the Geminids produce more than 50 meteors per hour. This year, however, moonlight will dampen some of the fainter meteors for most of the peak nights. The moon sets just after 2 a.m. Monday morning so there will be a short window to get excellent viewing before the sun comes up.
The Geminids become visible after sunset low on the horizon, but the best time will be closer to 2 a.m. as the constellation Gemini -- the constellations where the meteors appear to originate from -- will be highest in the sky.
As with all meteor showers, to get the full effect, stargazers should try and get away from city lights and let their eyes adjust to the darkness for about 15 minutes. Remember, the darker the better!
Viewing tips
- Get away from lights
- View between 3 a.m. - 5 a.m. to avoid moonlight/sunlight
- Let your eyes adjust to the darkness for 15-30 minutes
- Be patient! There may not be shooting stars happening all the time. They typically happen in bunches.
- Don’t use a telescope because that limits your view of the night sky.
Planets bright in the sky
In addition to the meteor shower, there will be three planets prominent in the night sky.
Jupiter, Saturn and Venus will make up a nearly diagonal line in between the moon and the horizon. The brightest of the bunch will be Venus, closer to the horizon.