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The most prolific meteor shower of the class , the Geminids , will peak overnight tonight and tomorrow ( Dec. 13 and 14 ) . The only annual meteor rain shower that scientists know for sure is triggered by anasteroidrather than a comet , the Geminids meteoroid shower ’s peak night will this year be somewhat dampened by the appearance of a near - full moon .
WithDecember ’s full moon , the " inhuman Moon,“rising on Sunday , Dec. 15 , it will already be above the horizon and glow bright as the sun go under tonight . Skywatchers are improbable to see as many of the ( up to ) 120 shoot star topology per time of day during the peak that many hope for — but this is still an event to be outdoors for around midnight .
The Geminid meteor shower in 2020 from the Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area near Punta Gorda, Florida. (Image credit: Diana Robinson Photography via Getty Images)
For the best view , find a spot as far from artificial lights as possible , turn your back to the synodic month , and look up while permit your eye to conform to the dark . Meteor exhibitioner are well consider with the naked eye ; noskywatching binocularsorbackyard telescopesnecessary . ( Due to the moonlight ’s bright incandescence , encompassing travel for this shower bath is not notify . )
The potent shooting star shower of the year in the Northern Hemisphere , the Geminids are often bright and intensely colored , according to theAmerican Meteor Society . combat-ready from Monday , Dec. 2 to Saturday , Dec. 21 , the Geminids tend to be chicken , according to NASA , but may also be white and fleeceable .
Related : The Geminid meteors may be 10 times sr. than we mean , simulations of oddball asteroid Phaethon suggest
The Geminids are have by3200 Phaethon , which is thought to be an asteroid . Each December , Earth track the asteroid ’s route ; junk left in the wake of the asteroid tumbles through Earth ’s standard atmosphere , inflame up and producing " dart wiz , " or meteor . Discovered in 1982 , asteroid Phaethon revolve the sunlight every 1.4 Earth years and displays a comet - like can for a few days when the asteroid passes closest to the Sunday . That ’s unusual ; asteroid , which are mostly jolting , do not typically form tails when they get stuffy to the Lord’s Day .
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Researchpublishedin 2023 unveil that Na natural gas is resign from the minerals in 3200 Phaethon while carbon dioxide and body of water vapor cause enough air pressure to lift low debris particles from its surface . Together , these two procedure form its behind .
As the Geminids meridian this twelvemonth , 2024 ’s final meteor shower will also be getting underway . The Ursids , which appear to add up from Ursa Major — most illustrious for its shape of stars call the Big Dipper — ravel from Friday , Dec. 13 through Tuesday , Dec. 24 , peak overnight on Saturday , Dec. 21 and Sunday , Dec. 22 , when 5 - 10 shooting champion may be seen in darker Nox sky . On that crown night , the twelvemonth ’s last quartern synodic month will rise after midnight .
