MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Overnight to Sunday Moscow residents can watch one of the most spectacular meteor showers in the Earth’s northern hemisphere - the Geminids when nearly 120 shooting stars an hour will be visible in the sky.
Rosgidromet weathermen forecasted that over the coming night the sky will be partially covered with clouds and there will not be rain or snow. At the moments when clouds will disperse, a row of small particles can be seen left by a trail of 3200 Phaeton asteroid.
Geminids were named after the constellation Gemini, in which the radiant of the flow is located, and the meteor shower lights up the sky on December 4 to 17. Gemini can be seen over the whole night in December.
The peak of the Geminid meteor shower falls on December 14. Thus, the best time to begin watching the meteors will be on Sunday night when the moon rises after midnight and is at the third quarter phase.
The Geminids are likely to display lots of bright meteors, with some of them crossing the whole sky.
In dark countryside locations the Geminids will be most magnificent while in cities smoke or even smog and city lights will allow the viewers to see only the brightest shooting stars, falling with a speed of 35km/s.