New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Sky gazers can look forward to an exhibition of celestial fireworks as the night sky will be lit up by Geminid meteor showers that are expected to peak Monday.
A rare celestial event, the Geminid meteor shower will be visible across most of India and people can see over 100 shooting stars every hour for the next couple of nights with the largest number early on Monday.

“People can watch out for the meteor showers from late Sunday to dawn on Monday morning. There will be fireballs in the sky,” said N. Rathnashree, director of the Nehru Planetarium here.

Explaining the method to observe the meteorites, Rathnashree said: “Look up at the sky between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. and you could see beautiful fireworks in the sky as the new moon is providing ideally dark viewing conditions.

“You need a simple telescope to watch the meteor showers. People in the capital should move to the outskirts to have a clear look as the morning skies these days are covered with fog,” she said.

A meteor shower occurs when the earth passes through debris left behind by a passing comet or asteroid. In the present case, it’s an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon.

As the earth moves around the sun, the debris gets pulled by the earth’s gravitational force and falls with its long bright tails visible to the naked eye.

The celestial movement is called Geminid showers, as they will seem to emanate from the Gemini constellation.