STARGAZERS ACROSS THE country will be able to view shooting stars this evening, with the Geminid meteor shower set to illuminate the night sky tonight.

The meteor shower, which occurs in December each year, is set to peak tonight and tomorrow night, with experts estimating that up to 20 times more shooting stars will be visible compared to normal.

NASA has estimated that people will be able to see up to between 30 and 40 meteors per hour this evening, however some may be obscured due to the current cycle of the moon. 

Astronomy Ireland says that people will be able to see the shooting stars from 6pm this evening, however they will best be seen after midnight tonight.

“In past decades the Perseid Meteor Shower in August was the best but this has declined somewhat in recent years to leave the Geminids reigning supreme,” said David Moore of Astronomy Ireland.

“This is also good news for the public because that August shower cannot be well seen until 11pm but the Geminids begins as soon as it gets dark, around 5pm and runs until dawn.”

Time to shine. 💫

Don’t miss the annual Geminids meteor shower, peaking between Dec. 13-14. A waning gibbous moon will make it harder to view most of the shower, but the Geminids burn so bright, up to 30-40 should be visible per hour! https://t.co/UNdSYSK8CL pic.twitter.com/JlM0pKvL5P

— NASA (@NASA) December 13, 2022

Moore says that the Geminid shower is caused by bits of space debris falling off an extinct comet named Phaethon, which travels around the Sun every year and a half.

“It has probably been around the Sun thousands of times and has spat out dust particles that have now spread all around its orbit,” Moore said.

The shooting stars themselves are typically white or yellow, with green, red and blue meteors also visible on occasion – thanks to the presence of metals like sodium and calcium, which are typically used to colour fireworks.