December is here, and that can mean only one thing. No, we’re not talking about the Christmas holidays - we’re talking about the Geminids meteor shower, which will peak in skies over the Netherlands this week on December 13 and 14.
Taking its name from - you guessed it - the Gemini constellation, the Geminids are a real highlight of the annual astronomical calendar. The meteor shower arrives in the Netherlands every December and provides a meteoric feast for the eyes, with between 50 and 150 meteors visible every hour at the shower’s peak. Sourced from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, they enter the earth’s atmosphere at 35 kilometres per second - quite slow by meteor standards - which should make them much easier to see with the naked eye.
Make sure you’re prepared and know what to look out for: the meteors tend to be bold, white, and quick. You won’t need any extra equipment for this shower, but experts advise setting aside at least an hour for stargazing in order to ensure your eyes have time to adapt to the darkness.
This year, the meteor shower is active between December 6 and 16, but the peak will take place over the northern hemisphere on Friday. To catch a peek of hundreds of Geminids, stargazers should turn their eyes to the night skies between sundown on December 13 and sunrise on December 14.
For the best chances of catching a glimpse of the display, try to head out of the Dutch cities and find somewhere that doesn’t have too much light pollution (like a national park). Hopefully, the skies will stay clear of clouds and rain and the Dutch weather will cooperate on the night!
If you’re worried about missing it on Friday, then don’t worry; you’ll still be in with a decent chance of spying a couple of meteors either on the weekend or in the days that follow. Is one meteor shower not enough to satisfy your appetite? Worry not: the Ursids will also be peaking before the year's end!