A DAZZLING meteor shower will flood the skies with fireballs tonight – and you might see a dizzying range of colours.
The Geminid meteor shower is one of the best of the year – and it’s about to peak in a wintry treat for stargazers.
You’ll be able to see it tonight and into the weekend, and there are some special tips from experts for spotting them.
WHAT IS THE GEMINID METEOR SHOWER?
Meteor showers happen each and every year, but the Geminids event is one of the best.
They happen when chunks of debris from space hit Earth‘s atmosphere, burning up at high speeds.
And that’s what causes that flashes of light in the sky that we’ve come to know as shooting stars.
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The Geminids are especially unique as far as meteor showers go because they’re caused by debris from 3200 Phaethon, which is rocky like an asteroid rather than an icy comet.
And while the flashes of light are mostly white, they’ll appear in a range of colours.
“The meteors of the Geminid meteor shower are very bright, moderately fast,” said the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
“And are unusual in being multi-coloured – mainly white, some yellow and a few green, red and blue.
“These colours are partly caused by the presence of traces of metals like sodium and calcium, the same effect that is used to make fireworks colourful.”
The number of meteors that you’ll see can vary, but at the peak, you might expect as many as 120 an hour.
WHEN IS THE GEMINIDS METEOR SHOWER 2025?
The Geminids meteor shower runs for just over two weeks.
It kicked off on December 4, and it’ll run right through to December 20.
But the peak is on the night of Saturday, December 13, going into December 14.
So Friday through to Monday will be your best bet for seeing some fireballs in the sky.
However, you’ll have another good chance towards the end of the meteor shower as the New Moon arrives, which means the sky isn’t as illuminated (making it easier to spot space objects).
The bad news is that if it’s a cloudy night where you are then you’ll really struggle to see anything at all.
And light pollution will also get in the way, so make sure to get out into the countryside if you can.
You’ll also have better luck if you can get high up (or go somewhere very flat) so you have an as broad as possible view of the sky.
What’s the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
HOW TO SPOT GEMINIDS
In terms of where to look, it’s quite an odd situation.
Normally for stargazing, you’ll know the exact direction to face – but these fireballs can appear anywhere overhead.
If you trace them back to their point of origin, they should all appear to radiate from the constellation of Gemini.
But meteor shower flashes will appear almost anywhere in the sky, so keep your eyes peeled across the full darkness of space for those fireballs.
If you want another chance to spot a meteor shower after the Geminids, you can also look forward to the Ursids.
It’s a smaller shower that runs from December 13 to 26, with a peak on December 22.
