The Geminid meteor shower is about to reach its peak over the skies of Vancouver.
Image/Pixabay
The annual 'rock comet' shower takes places from December聽4 - 23, but peaks around December 13 - 14. It's estimated that eager sky-watchers will be able to spot between 60 - 100 meteors per hour.
Viewing tips
To spot the meteors, it's best that you find a clear view of the sky as far form city lights and general light pollution as possible. You'll likely have the best chance of spotting meteors from 10:00pm on December 13, until 2:00am on December 14, however, they should be visible throughout the month. The meteors聽often appear yellowish in colour and travel at a speed of聽35 km/s.
For optimal viewing, you may want to head to a local mountain or use to find the best viewing areas around Vancouver.
The meteors appear to come from a聽radiant聽in . As a general rule, the higher the constellation Gemini climbs into your sky, the more meteors you'll be able to see.
The聽Geminids聽are a聽meteor shower聽caused by the object聽3200 Phaethon, an聽Apollo asteroid聽with an orbit that brings it closer to the聽Sun聽than any other聽named asteroid.
