The Geminids meteor shower, currently underway, is set to culminate the year 2023 with one of the most spectacular stargazing events.
Renowned among seasoned astronomers, this annual celestial display is often hailed as the strongest and most reliable meteor shower of the year.
NASA reports that under ideal conditions, it can produce bright, fast, and frequently vividly colored meteors at a rate of up to 120 per hour.
Geminids, commonly referred to as "shooting stars," are streaks of light in the sky resulting from meteoroids, which are fragments of asteroids or comets, entering Earth's atmosphere.
The Geminids, however, originate from an intriguing space object that blurs the line between comet and asteroid, possibly a hybrid of the two
This enigmatic space rock, named 3200 Phaethon, has a 1.4-year orbit bringing it perilously close to the sun
The Geminids appear to radiate from the constellation Gemini, the Twins, hence their name, but they can be visible across the night sky.