By SHIORI OGAWA/ Staff Writer
December 12, 2021 at 17:45 JST
The Asahi Shimbun
The night sky will put on an annual show when the Geminid meteor shower peaks between late Dec. 13 and dawn on Dec. 15.
Experts said it should be possible to spot as many as 30 to 50 meteors an hour on a dark night away from areas with street lights.
Even with the moon high in the night sky, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan said 20 to 30 meteors per hour should be visible.
The best time to catch the phenomenon is between late at night, as the waxing gibbous moon sets, and dawn, they said.
Geminid is one of the three best known regular meteor showers. The others are the Perseid meteor shower in summer and the Quadrantids meteor shower around New Year.
Geminid meteors radiate mostly from the Orion constellation.
The observatory’s tips for meteor watchers is to scan the night sky for at least 15 minutes so the eyes adjust, making it easier to catch meteors arriving from all directions.
Meteor showers occur when particles of a dust trail left by a comet or an asteroid enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
The asteroid Phaethon, which approaches Earth every 18 months, is widely recognized associated with the Geminid shower.
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