Best places to watch the Geminids meteor shower

Stargazers are being urged to keep their eyes peeled on Tuesday night as Earth braces for the peak of the 2011 Geminids meteor shower.

The final celestial event of the year is set to peak on 13 and 14 December in the UK between 8pm and 2am with another potential chance to view it on 14 and 15 December - that’s if you are brave enough to go out.

Weather permitting, Brits could see as many as 40 meteors per hour during the shower, which has been billed by Nasa as the best one of the year.

The Geminids are said to be different from other meteor showers because the slow and bright meteors are believed to be created by debris released from an asteroid-like object called 3200 Phaethon, rather than the tail-end of comets like the Leonids or the Perseids.

This debris then enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up at huge speeds, producing the dazzling spectacle. The meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini because the meteors appear to radiate from this point in the sky.

According to the Jodrell Bank Observatory based in Cheshire, the full moon which occurred on 10 December will lie close to the radiant on Tuesday night, meaning that we will only see the brighter trails by looking high up away from the glare of the Moon.

The Geminids is a relatively new shower and, since the 1830s, has increased from a peak intensity of 20 meteors per hour to up to 120.

Top viewing tips

1. Find a rural area away from street lights and pollution. The National Trust has listed the best spots on its website to go stargazing, including Stonehenge. Here is a list of some more of the best places to watch it.

North

Buckstones Car Park
Marsden Moor, Yorkshire

Friar's Crag
Lake District, Cumbria

Midlands

Mam Tor
Peak District, Derbyshire

South

Bignor Car Park
Slindon Estate, West Sussex

Dunkery Beacon
Holnicote Estate, Exmoor

Echo Mount
Knole, Kent

Black Down
Sussex

Northern Ireland

Divis Mountain
Belfast

Wales

Penbryn Beach
Cardigan

Scotland

Galloway Forest Park
Dumfries and Galloway

Sighthill Park
Glasgow

New Lanark Roof Garden
Lanark

2. Generally higher elevations are better than observing meteor showers at lower elevations, and in open spaces like a field or golf course.

3. Look in the opposite direction to the moon and ensure an object such as a building or tree hides the moon to prevent the glare from the moonlight.

4. Allow at least 20 minutes for your eyes to become fully adapted to the dark.

5. Have patience. Meteors tend to come in bunches, with long, quiet periods in between. Spend at least an hour or two watching if you want to be sure of catching as many meteors as possible.