Geminid meteor shower is peaking on Dec 14-15. When and where you can watch it

Nature is about to put an end to this year with a final show, with what NASA calls the year's 'best and most reliable' meteor showers.

The meteor shower called Geminids is supposed to peak on December 14-15 night, with 150 meteors per hour. 

What's so special about Geminids and what are they? NASA describes Geminids as 'different from others' as most of the meteor showers originate from comets, but this originates from an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon (thank god, not the one that wiped those dinosaurs out).

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon takes 1.4 years to orbit the Sun once.

These meteors are named Geminds because they are generally spotted near the Gemini constellation. 

According to a NASA document, Geminids travel 78,000 mph (35 km/s).

This is over 1,000 times faster than a cheetah, about 250 times faster than the swiftest car in the world, and over 40 times faster than a speeding bullet.

How to watch it? Geminids are seen in the month of December every year; sort of like a year-end gift, if you will.

Adhvaidh Maharaajan, a final-year student at VIT Chennai, has been tracking Geminids for the last five-six years. He tells DailyO that he has already seen the Geminid meteor shower last night, December 13.

• However, the peak of the Geminid showers will be 14-15th December,
• The best time to watch it will be after midnight and before sunrise (12-3 am to be precise).
• And the best place will be where there is very little light pollution; so, think far from a busy city. 

However, Maharaajan has advised keeping your eyes away from screens from at least 30 minutes before you look at the sky, so that your pupils can adjust to the darkness.

Maharaajan says that even though experts predicted that Geminids generally mean 150 meteors per hour; because of pollution, weather and moonlight, people can only spot 20 to 30 meteors per hour. 

Where can you watch them? 

• Even though Maharaajan viewed it from Chennai, he says that you can view Geminids from anywhere given that the place is not urban; ie, has no tall buildings nearby, and has a very thin pollution blanket.  
• But if you live in places like Delhi, Delhi-NCR or Mumbai; you can forget about it... because of the light pollution. 
• Weather Channel predicts that even though people in Bengaluru will not be able to see it, but people in places like Hessarghatta, Bannerghatta, Devarayanadurga and Kolar near Bengaluru might get a good view of the meteor showers. 

Have you ever watched a meteorite shower? Let us know in the comments.