Shooting star shower to peak tonight

Astronomy Ireland began a Nationwide Geminid Watch on December 6, asking amateur astronomers to count the number of meteors they see.

The organisation confirmed that tonight (Monday December 13) is the best evening to watch out for shooting stars in the sky.

Explaining the phenomenon, Astronomy Ireland said, “As Earth moves through clouds of dust leftover from comets, the particles fall into our atmosphere and burn up, creating spectacular streaks of light in the sky, known as meteors or shooting stars. This [particular] shower is named after the constellation Gemini, from which the meteors appear to come from in the sky.”

According to David Moore, chairman of Astronomy Ireland, tonight’s shower will be the best of the year and will go on all night.

The peak in meteor activity tonight will see up to 100 ‘shooting stars’ an hour from the normal five- to six-an-hour rate.

As part of its Nationwide Geminid Watch, Astronomy Ireland is asking people across the country to watch out for the ‘shooting stars’, record how many they see every 15 minutes and notify the organisation of their findings in a report.

Click here for more details on the initiative and tonight’s spectacle.