The best time to see the Geminid meteor shower in the UK tonight

The dazzling Geminid meteor shower is set to peak in the coming hours - offering a glimpse of hundreds of shooting stars.

In 2024, the spectacular celestial display is expected to peak on Friday (13 December) night and into the early hours of Saturday (14 December). This should be the best time to see shooting stars and in the UK, this is when they will be visible to the naked eye and demonstrating the brightest colours.

According to Dr Shyam Balaji, researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, the exact best time to view the Geminid meteor shower in the UK tonight is 2am.

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"However, you can start watching from mid-evening onwards,” she told Science Focus.

This year’s peak coincides with a near full moon, so viewing conditions may not be as favourable as with last year's celestial spectacle. Prof Don Pollacco, astrophysicist from The University of Warwick, said the near full moon will obscure some of the fainter meteors.

He added: "Still, this shower is always worth a look so if the weather is favourable, wrap up warm and go out in the early hours on Saturday with a reclining chair and look to the south and high in the sky.

"Once your eyes become adapted to the darkness you should become aware of the occasional meteor. But be patient and remember 'good things come to those who wait’!"

The Geminids is one of the most active showers of the year, with a peak rate of up to 150 meteors per hour. For the best viewing conditions, find a safe location away from street lights and other sources of light pollution.

The meteors can be seen in all parts of the sky, so it is best to go to a wide open space where the night sky can be scanned. However, if you trace the paths the shooting stars take, they seem to originate from near the star Castor in the constellation of Gemini.

To find Gemini, look up to the sky and find Orion the Hunter, which is distinguishable by the three bright stars that make up Orion’s belt. Once Orion has been located, look up and to the left. Here, there are two bright stars – Castor and Pollux. These two stars represent each of the twins of Gemini.

The radiant - the point in the night sky where meteors appear to originate from in a shower - is just above Castor, the slightly fainter of the two stars. The advice is to not look directly at the radiant as this can limit the number you see. Instead try to look just to the side in a dark area of sky.

The meteors can be seen with the naked eye so there is no need for binoculars or a telescope, though you will need to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. And you will probably need a comfy chair and to be wrapped up warm - as meteor hunting is a waiting game.

Meteors are pieces of debris that enter Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per second, vaporising and causing streaks of light we recognise as shooting stars.

The meteors of the Geminid shower are bright, fast, and unusual in that they are multi-coloured – mainly white, some yellow and a few green, red and blue. These colours are explained by the presence of metals like sodium and calcium, which are used to make fireworks colourful.

However, while most meteor showers originate from comets - large objects made of dust and ice that orbit the Sun - Geminids are leftover bits of the asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon. Unlike comets, asteroids - small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun - do not develop tails when approaching the Sun, and their composition is different.

But scientists are still debating if Phaethon is even an asteroid, with some thinking it could be a completely new class of celestial object - a rock comet.