Geminid Meteor Shower 2018: How and When to Watch

The Geminid Meteor Shower 2018 is considered one of the most spectacular celestial shows in this year. The scientists say that it will emit bands of light across the sky and due to this phenomenon, it is called the Geminid. Google doodle celebrates the special moments (it will have its peak in the night of December 13 to 14) with a slideshow.

According to NASA’s meteor expert, Bill Cooke, the Geminid meteor shower will peak in the night sky the night of December 13 and continue to the night of December 14. Since the shower occurs every December, it is widely considered to become one of the strongest meteor showers of the year.

Bill Cooke further said that the best time to see the Geminid meteor shower is around 2 am local time. Since the moon will be the first quarter, it will set around midnight, hence no moonlight will interfere with the Gemini’s this year, as reported by Express.

The shower is likely to emit multi-coloured flashes with green, blue, white, yellow and red. It is expected to be more visible between midnight and dawn of December 14.

“You can look out for the shower from sunset as the radiant is in the northern hemisphere, although the early hours of 14 December are the expected peak time,” Royal Observatory’s guidance noted.

It (shower) is named after Gemini as the meteors emerge from the Gemini constellation in the sky. It is recommended to view the shower from a less-polluted area away from the cities. In India, areas like northern states of Himalayas, Rajasthan’s Alwar and Maharashtra’s Bhandardara are the great places to view the Geminid meteor shower.