The Geminid Meteor Shower Happening TONIGHT And You Can View It With The Naked Eye
It radiates from the actual Gemini constellation.
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Tonight, Geminid meteors from the asteroid 3200 Phaeton will light up the night sky.
Avid stargazers in Malaysia will be able to watch it starting tonight (13 December) at 9pm until tomorrow (14 December). However, the peak of the meteor shower will be in the morning at 9am, so it would be too bright to see the meteors by then.
Still, the rise of the Gemini meteor will be a spectacular sight. According to Astronomical Society of Penang president Dr Chong Hon Yew, it coincides with an old moon. This means that the night sky will be dark without glaring moonlight, making it the perfect backdrop to bring out the brightness of the meteor shower.
Additionally, the Geminid meteor shower is expected to have around 140 to 150 visible meteors an hour.
The Geminid meteor shower is also known as one of the best and most reliable of the major annual showers, often gracing our skies at the end of the year.
The Geminid meteor shower is indeed named after the Gemini constellation, because the Geminid meteors appear to radiate from a point within the constellation. In fact, you can try to trace the meteor backwards to see the constellation itself!
However, if you are not able to drive out to a place with little light pollution tonight, the Astronomical Society of Penang will be streaming the live sky from their observatory.
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