One Of The Best Meteor Showers Of The Year Will Be Visible Across Canada This Month
Shooting stars will be streaking across the sky! 💫
If you're looking to see a spectacular show, one of the best meteor showers of the year is streaking across Canadian skies soon!
The Geminid meteor shower is hitting its peak over Canada from mid-evening on December 13 until dawn on December 14 and it radiates from near the stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini.
With this, the meteors are plentiful, bold, white and bright and rival the Perseid meteor shower in August, which is considered the best of the year for the northern hemisphere.
You can typically spot 50 or more meteors an hour when the sky is dark and moonless.
The greatest numbers of shooting stars typically streak across the sky in the hours after midnight, right around 2 a.m. local time because that's when the radiant point is highest in the sky.
This year, the peak night of the Geminid meteor shower will be in a battle with moonlight for many hours. However, the moon will set in the hours before dawn which means there will be some dark hours for viewing.
Since this meteor shower produces bright shooting stars, some of those ones could overcome the light from the moon.
You don't need any special equipment or any special skills to view a meteor shower.
If there are clear skies, you need to find a viewing spot that's away from the city lights and let your eyes adjust to the dark.
To make viewing easier and less straining on your neck, you can lie down on the ground or sit back in a chair and look up in the direction of the radiant. Then you're good to go!
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.