Meteor shower: UAE to witness annual Geminid show; when, where to watch it

Dubai - As many as 120 meteors are set to fall in an hour for what promises to be a true celestial delight.

As many as 120 meteors will fall in an hour on Sunday, December 13 when a stunning meteor show dazzles Dubai.

The Geminid meteor shower began around December 4, but the peak is set to be on December 13 and the result promises to be a celestial delight.

With perfect weather forecast and no moonlight interference on the cards, it is anticipated that more than one meteor a minute will illuminate the sky.

What are the Geminids and when do they occur?

The Geminids occur every year from about December 4 to 16, peaking the night of December 13 into the morning of December 14. This is the shower’s “maximum,” or time when the most meteors fall per hour.

The peak of the Geminids, which is considered to be one of the most prolific meteor showers of the year, is after dark on December 13, 2020.

The shower owes its name to the constellation Gemini because the meteors seem to emerge from this constellation in the sky.

Meteors should be visible across the entire sky, though from Dubai, the radiant of the shower will appear 58 degrees above your north-eastern horizon at midnight. This means you may be able to see around 120 meteors per hour, since the radiant will be high in the sky, maximising the chance of seeing meteors.

The shower will be visible across the entire globe except for Antarctica, which gets 24 hours of sunlight per day during this part of the year.

How and where to watch the meteor shower

The Dubai Astronomy Group is organising a paid event on on Sunday, December 13 called the 'Geminids Meteor Shower Event'. This will be held from 10pm to 3am on Monday, December 14.

Participants will receive training in 'decoding the night sky' by a renowned astronomer. There will also be a lecture, demonstrations and Q&A sessions about stars and the universe.

The Mleiha Archaeological Centre, Sharjah, and the UAE astronomy group are also organising paid events for observing the meteor shower camps at different locations.

Dubai Astronomy Group CEO, Hasan Al Hariri, told thebrew.ae that: "You don’t need any special equipment or a lot of skills to view a meteor shower. Even though all you really need is a clear sky and handy Interactive Meteor Shower Sky Map with a visibility conditions meter to see a meteor shower."

He added that the following tips can help maximise your shooting star viewing experience: "Dress for the weather, and make sure you are comfortable, especially if you plan to stay out long. Bring a blanket or a comfortable chair with you.

"Find a secluded viewing spot, away from the city lights. Your eyes may take 20 minutes to get used to the dark.

"Lie down on the ground and look up in the direction of the radiant. Use our Interactive Meteor Shower Sky Map or the table above to find the current direction of the radiant in the sky."

Why do meteors fall?

As reported by thebrew.ae, unlike most other meteor showers, the Geminids are not associated with a comet but with an asteroid: the 3200 Phaethon. The asteroid takes about 1.4 years to orbit the Sun.

Geminid’s parent – 3200 Phaethon – is a “rock comet” Every year, in December, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of an object called 3200 Phaethon, a mysterious body that is sometimes referred to as a rock comet. The debris shed by 3200 Phaethon crashes into Earth’s upper atmosphere at some 80,000 miles (130,000 km) per hour, to vaporise as colourful Geminid meteors.

The Geminid meteor shower is nearly 200 years old, according to known records — the first recorded observation was in 1833 from a riverboat on the Mississippi River — and is still going strong. In fact, it’s growing stronger. That’s because Jupiter’s gravity has tugged the stream of particles from the shower’s source ― the asteroid 3200 Phaethon ― closer to Earth over the centuries.

• Dubai