Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Today

Amateur astronomers will want to take a look at the skies as the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak tonight. NASA says this is one of the best and most reliable meteor showers for lots of shooting stars.

The peak will be reached at 2 AM, and the shower can produce more than 50 meteors per hour. For optimal viewing, skywatchers will need to be in an area with dark skies.

One of the challenges to viewing the meteor shower is that the moon will be at 77 percent of its brightest, meaning it could be difficult to see the light show in some areas. However, starting at 2 AM, the moon will set and improve visibility.

While the Geminids are viewable globally, the northern hemisphere has the best visibility. The Geminid meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini where the meteors appear to originate from. The meteors are debris from a rock comet called 3200 Phaethon.