The best meteor shower of the year is happening tonight and tomorrow across Ireland, with ideal weather conditions to see up to three shooting stars a minute.
Astronomy Ireland has said that this year’s geminid meteor shower takes place on what is expected to be a moonless night.
Astronomer David Moore explained that geminates have produced about 20 times more shooting stars or meteors than normal.
He added that this means “it should be a a really spectacular celestial fireworks display for the whole country”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said in order to see the display people do not need any equipment “just the naked eye”.
“If you’ve got telescopes or binoculars, leave them indoors. You want to see as much sky as possible, so if you can get the sun lounger or something to recline back on and fill your vision with sky, that’s how you’ll see the most,” Mr Moore said.
“And what we want people to do is to count them. Tell us how many they see every 15 minutes. It’s as simple as that and that has real scientific value.
“That’s how we know this is the best shower of the year, because people have been counting it year in, year out, not scientists.”
He added that it is a slow-moving event so it will be seen tonight and tomorrow night.
However, Mr Moore said that clouds are a big problem in Ireland, but temperatures are expected to be above normal, which he says is good.
“Not too much ice and snow on the ground, as we’ve had in previous years and there’s even a ridge of high pressure forecast,” he explained.
“But, If it’s not clear, do keep checking the sky because I was doing it last night and for hours it was cloudy. Then miraculously it cleared up and I got to see at least a dozen of the geminids, even though we’re not at the peak.
“So, keep checking the sky is the message. If you live in the city well, you’re going to see less because there are more feint geminid meteors than there are bright ones.
“But I’ve watched from the suburbs of even a big city like Dublin and had a fantastic view because the geminids are known for producing fireballs. Very bright meteors. So, it’s well worth watching even if you can’t get out to the countryside.”
