Geminid Meteor Shower To Cross The Skies

Tonight and tomorrow night you can catch the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. According to NASA, the shower will be visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This year it is expected that there will be more than 1 meteor per minute, reaching up to 100 meteors per hour according to experts at Space.com.

The shower was expected to begin around 6pm eastern time and go until around 10pm eastern time tomorrow night. Experts from NASA are saying the best time to view the Geminid meteor shower is around 2am your time since this is the time the shower is expected to peak and there will be no moonlight interference.

This year, the shower has a bonus for those who are out there watching: the brilliant comet 46P/Wirtanen. The comet will also be visible in the night sky with binoculars or a telescope. It can be found in the Orion constellation. For those who have clear and extremely dark skies, you may be able to see the comet without binoculars or telescopes.

How to find the Geminids:

Geminid meteors appear to diverge from a single spot in the sky, called the radiant, located in the constellation Gemini. But you'll see as many as possible if you lean back and take in the whole sky — they can appear anywhere across the sky, traveling away from that point.

Credit: Sky & Telescope/Gregg Dinderman

According to Space.com, “the Geminids, as their name implies, appear to emanate from the bright constellation Gemini (the twins). To find Gemini in the Northern Hemisphere, look in the southwestern sky for the constellation Orion, which is easy to spot by the three stars in the hunter's "belt." Then look just up and to the left of Orion to see Gemini, high in the southwestern sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, Gemini appears to the lower right of Orion and both will hang in the northwestern sky.”

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