Geminid meteor shower 2018 India: How to watch the Geminids in India this week

The Geminids meteor shower will peak in the night sky the night of December 13 to 14, according to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke. The shower occurs every December and is widely considered to be one of the strongest meteor showers of the year. There can be as many as 100 meteors per hour shooting across the sky when the Gemini show peaks a few hours before dawn on Friday.

Mr Cooke said: “The best time to view the Gemini’s is around 2am local time. The moon will be first quarter, so it will set around midnight; there will be no moonlight to interfere with the Gemini’s this year.” The shower’s source comes from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which takes about 1.4 years to orbit the Sun. The Gemini meteor shower occurs every December, when the Earth passes through the tail of debris from the asteroid. The shower is named after the constellation Gemini because the meteors seem to emerge from this constellation in the sky.

Geminid meteor shower 2018 India: The meteor shower happens every December

How to watch the Geminids in India Those in the Northern Hemisphere will see the highest number of Gemini rates so Indians will have a good view of the celestial spectacle. The Gemini Meteor Shower 2018 will be active from December 4 to 17 but the most active period is the evening of December 13 to 14. The best place to view the shower is from a less polluted area away from the cities. And the best time to view the shower is at the peak time of night, so from around 2am from across the world.

Geminid meteor shower 2018: At its peak there can be around 100 meteors shooting across the sky

Areas such as Alwar in Rajasthan, the northern states of Himalayas and rural areas like Bandardara in Maharashtra will be great places to view the shower. The first Geminid meteor shower was spotted in 1862, surprising astronomers, but its took more than a century until Phaethon was discovered. Mr Cooke said: “The best time to view the Geminids is around 2am local time. “The moon will be first quarter, so it will set around midnight; there will be no moonlight to interfere with the Geminids this year.”

Geminid meteor shower 2018 India: The meteor shower is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere