Geminids Meteor Shower 2020

The Geminids meteor shower, believed to be the strongest of the year, is active from December 4-December 20, with December 13 and 14 considered to be the best nights for viewing these meteor showers.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

The Geminids meteor showers are unique because their origin does not lie in a comet, but what is believed to be an asteroid or an extinct comet. The Geminids emerge from 3200 Phaethon, which meteor scientists consider to be an asteroid.

NASA says that Geminids travel at a speed of 78,000 mph or 35 km/s, which is over 1000 times faster than a cheetah.

Meteors are best visible on a cloudless night and when the Moon is not extremely bright.

Meteors are bits of rock and ice that are ejected from comets as they manoeuvre around their orbits around the sun.

When a meteor reaches the Earth, it is called a meteorite and a series of meteorites, when encountered at once, is termed a meteor shower.

According to NASA, over 30 meteor showers occur annually and are observable from the Earth.