The Geminids light up the night sky each December, and those who want to see the meteors this year will have an even more breathtaking view than last year – the sky will be darker as a new moon will emerge a few days before the shower’s peak.
More than 100 meteors will shoot across the sky per hour, meaning that you will see more than one per minute.
The Geminids are named after the Gemini constellation, but the shooting stars we see on Earth are actually trails of debris the asteroid 3200 Phaethon leaves behind as it orbits the sun.
The meteor shower is predicted to peak mid-evening on 13 December, and will last until dawn on 14 December.
“The moon will be first quarter, so it will set around midnight; there will be no moonlight to interfere with the Geminids this year,” NASA meteor expert, Bill Cooke, said to Space.com.
Some of the best places to view the Geminid shower in Cape Town include:
Noordhoek
Simon’s Town
Kylemore
Franschhoek
Follow this link to access a ‘light map’ – this map shows which places experience the least light pollution.
Picture: Unsplash