Experts predict the king of meteor showers — the fiery Geminids — will hit this weekend, putting on a light show you won’t want to miss.
The Geminids are considered to be one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year.
The shower owes its name to the constellation Gemini because the meteors seem to emerge from this constellation in the sky. The parent of the Geminid is, unusually, an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon. Usually, meteor showers originate from a comet. But Geminids and Quadrantids are the major meteor showers with asteroids as parent bodies.
Paul Balfe captured this 88-image composite of the Geminid meteor shower above Brisbane last year. Picture: Paul BalfeThe meteors will radiate from the northern horizon near the bright star Castor in the Gemini constellation but will appear anywhere in the sky. “The meteors are Geminids, slow-moving meteors with a speed of 20-35km. It will be a great night of star gazing so for the best view head away from the city lights,” Dr Tayyaba said.Some people focus on locating the “radiant” of a meteor shower, but the best meteors are actually found away from the radiant, often persisting for a greater duration and with a longer path through the sky.
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