Article Posted on : - Dec 14, 2009

The annual Geminid meteor shower.

NEW DELHI (BNS): The night sky on Monday will lit up with celestial sparks when the annual Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak.

Continuing for the past few days, the meteor shower would reach its maximum on the night of December 14 and 15.

The ideal time for sky gazers to witness the spectacular celestial treat would be 5.10 am GMT, according to NASA.

“You could expect to see over 100 meteors per hour during the peak viewing,” said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The shooting stars will coincide with a new moon, making the event even more splendid.

The point of origin of the shower lies in the direction of the constellation of Gemini.

An aberration of the Geminid meteor shower is its source – 3200 Phaeton – which is an asteroid and not a comet. Meteor showers occur due to the sand-sized particles from active comets. However, Phaeton is the only asteroid associated with a meteor shower.