Meteor show to light up Australian skies

Velentina Boulter
Dec 13, 2024, updated Dec 13, 2024

Meteor showers such as the Geminids also contain tiny space rocks that can damage satellites. Photo: Getty

The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to light up Australian skies this weekend, peaking early on Saturday.

“It’s usually the best and brightest one of the year,” University of Sydney astrophysicist Dr Laura Driessen told Cosmos.

“Rather than leftovers from a comet, it’s leftovers from an asteroid. So, they’re nice, big pieces that are nice and bright.”

Driessen said no special equipment was needed to view the show.

“It’s actually probably better not to because meteors can sort of happen anywhere. So, if you’ve got your binoculars out, you’re probably looking at two smaller little spots in the sky. So, you’re more likely to miss things.”

“It’s better to get a nice deck chair, sit outside and sort of look in the general direction, and then you’re more likely to catch things.”

Associate Professor Michael Brown from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University said the Geminid meteor shower would peak at the weekend and was a good opportunity to see meteors, also known as shooting stars.

“Meteor showers occur when the Earth’s orbit passes through the debris left behind by a comet or asteroid. In this case, it is the asteroid Phaethon, which behaves like a comet, brightening and producing a dust tail on occasion. When the debris enters our atmosphere at tens of kilometres per second, it burns up, producing meteors,” he said.

In terms of where stargazers should be looking, Driessen said it was best to keep an eye on the area between Mars and Jupiter and just below the star Pollux in the Gemini constellation.

“But because it doesn’t really come from one spot, it’s better to sort of just look around that spot because they’ll come from all over the place,” she said.

The meteor shower passes through Earth every year around mid-December but this year the shower also coincides with a full moon.

“Tonight and into tomorrow morning, the moon is going to be pretty bright, which is a bit of a problem,” Driessen said.

“It’s basically light pollution. It’s the same thing, but this time, it’s not a city, it’s a moon.”

Light pollution from the full moon will make it difficult to observe the dimmer meteors, but keen observers from all across Australia should still be able to witness the meteor shower.

“The best time to head out there and have a look is close to the moon set, like half an hour to an hour before the moon sets up, till it gets too bright with the sun rising.”

Moon set is about 3 or 4 am depending on where you are in Australia.

Check out the moon set times for your city below: