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Geminid meteor shower to peak over Australia this weekend

Ben Domensino, Wednesday December 11, 2024 - 12:59 AEDT

One of this year’s best meteor showers will be visible from Australia later this week, offering Aussie stargazers an opportunity to see frequent shooting stars.

The Geminid meteor shower is an annual event that occurs in December when Earth passes through a trail of debris left behind by an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon. As Earth punches through this trail, particles enter Earth’s atmosphere and create a bright streak of light as they disintegrate.

While most meteor showers that we see from Earth originate from comets, the Geminids are uniquely associated with a meteor. This is an important distinction, because the particles from 3200 Phaethon are several times more dense than typical comet particles, which makes the Geminid meteors brighter than most other meteor showers.

Image: Images of 3200 Phaethon captured in December 2017. Source: Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF

Under ideal viewing conditions, the peak of the Geminid meteor shower can produce around 120 meteors per hour.

The Geminid Meteor shower is named after the constellation Gemini, which is the point in the sky where the meteor shower appears to originate from when viewed from Earth. Note though that the meteors are not coming from Gemini, it is simply a reference point for spectators watching from Earth.

This year’s Geminid meteor shower will peak on the night between December 13 and 14 in Australia. Unfortunately, this coincides with a near-full moon, which will make it hard to see some of the fainter meteors. But all hope is not lost, and the Geminids will still be visible in Australia this year.

Andrew Jacob, curator and astronomer at the Sydney Observatory, points out that “although the Moon is gibbous and bright, there is a short window of about half an hour between moonset and the start of dawn. Viewing during that brief window provides the best opportunity to see the meteors. To do so, look towards the north, as they emanate from a spot near Castor, the lower of the twin stars of Gemini.”

For those who miss this year’s Geminid meteor shower, NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day showcased this spectacular image of the meteors two years ago.

- Weatherzone

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