Stargazers across the world were treated to a “magical” moment when the annual Geminids meteor shower lit up the skies.

An estimated 150 meteors per hour were expected to be seen by those keen to catch a glimpse.

Meteor showers usually occur as Earth passes through the debris trails left behind by comets.

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But, the Geminids are a little bit different because they are associated with a five-kilometre-wide asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.

“The intensity of the meteor shower depends on the density of the debris trail, how deeply into it we pass and whether we pass through a single trail or more than one,” Ian Musgrave from the University of Adelaide said.

Dr Musgrave said Australia got a decent display of the event between 1am and 4am (AEDT) Tuesday, with the spectacle reaching its peak at 2.30am.

He said the meteors were most visible from far north Australia.

“The Geminids are an annual meteor show visible across most of the world,” Dr Musgrave said.

“You can see them from Australia in reasonable numbers.”

Stargazers from around the world reported mixed results as Australians waited with their eyes on the sky early on Tuesday morning.

“Laying outside under the night sky … I’ve already seen a handful. Amazingly magical,” one Instagram user, kaiyaepiphany, wrote.

But many shared spectacular images from vantage points in the US, United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

#Geminid in partly cloudy sky this early AM in Polvadera, #NewMexico #nmwx #NewMexicoTRUE #PureNM #meteor #orion pic.twitter.com/j6aIHGfOys

— Colleen Gino (@inlightful) December 14, 2015