The Geminids, one of the most spectacular and unusual meteor showers in terms of their origin, will reach their peak at dawn on Friday and will be visible throughout Greece.
Because there was a new moon on December 7th, and the next full moon will be on December 22, the sky will be very dark, which makes observation of the shower much easier.
The Geminid meteor shower appears from around December 7th to December 17th every year and, along with the Perseids in August, are considered the most spectacular of the annual meteor showers.
“Meteor shower king”
The meteor shower is called by experts “the king of the meteor showers” as it can produce 60 to 130 falling stars per hour. One to two falling stars may be observed every minute, in several different sectors of the night sky.
The Geminids meteor shower is caused by the celestial body named “3200 Phaethon”, which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid having a “rock comet” type of orbit.
This would make the Geminids and the Quadrantids the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet.
The Geminid meteors travel at an average speed compared to those of other showers, moving at approximately 22 miles per second (35 km/s), making them easy to spot with the naked eye.
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