Get ready to make a wish: “Shooting Stars” are coming

December 13: In case you are wondering what the Google doodle for today is, it is marking the relevance for the Geminid Meteor Shower because the second week of December is coming with the beginning of the strongest meteor shower of the year – the Geminids. It’s a good time to bundle up, go outside and watch one of Mother Nature’s best sky shows!

 

The meteors can be witnessed on the night of December 13. The Geminid shower happens every year around this time. But this year brings a skywatching bonus: the peak of the Geminids comes Thursday and Friday night, just as the brightest comet of the year, 46P/Wirtanen, is set to come historically close just a few nights later on Dec. 16.

 

December is known to be a treat for stargazers as the Geminid Meteors hit that sky every year during the month as Earth passes through a massive trail of dusty debris shed by a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon. The dust and grit burn up when they run into Earth’s atmosphere in a flurry of “shooting stars.”

Phaethon was discovered in October 1983 and named after the Greek myth about the son of Helios, the sun god, because it closely approaches our sun. Although its nature has been a debate: whether it is a near-Earth asteroid or an extinct comet.

 

Bill Cooke from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office advised the sky watchers to wait until the moon goes down at around 10:30 p.m. local time before heading outside without your cell phone, because its screen can mess up your night vision. “Lie flat on your back and look straight up, taking in as much sky as possible. You will soon start to see Geminid meteors. As the night progresses, the Geminid rate will increase, hitting a theoretical maximum of about 100 per hour around 2 am”, he added. Cooke also suggested taking binoculars or a small telescope outside with you to try and get a better look.