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Geminids, Ursids meteor showers to appear in Moscow skies before end of 2018

The starfall will be visible to the naked eye

© Sergei Malgavko/TASS

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Moscow residents will have a chance to see two straight meteor showers reaching their apexes in December. As such, the Geminids will peak on the night of December 14, while the Ursids will reach their cusp on the night of December 22, the Moscow Mayor’s office said on its website on Tuesday.

According to the statement, the Geminids will be one of the major and most spectacular meteor showers in 2018. "On the night of December 13-14, it will be possible to view up to 120 shooting stars an hour. Only thick clouds could prevent people from viewing the Geminids stream, which along with the Perseids and Orionids is one of the "Big Three" meteor showers. Nonetheless, the forecast by the Russian Hydrometeorological Center suggests that the weather in Moscow will be cloudless and clear at that time," the report said.

Read also

Perseid meteor shower in pictures

The starfall will be visible to the naked eye. It will look like shining dots that fly apart in the sky leaving behind thin glowing trails.

"Small space particles that burn in the upper atmosphere of our planet will be visible after just over an hour after sunset," the astronomers noted. The Geminids meteor shower originates from a radiant point in the constellation Gemini, and, unlike most other meteor showers, it is not the cosmic debris of Asteroid Phaethon, not of a comet.

The last meteor shower this year, the Ursids, will be on the night of December 22. It is expected to produce 10 shooting stars an hour. It is only the Full Moon that can be an issue since it rises just after sunset, but the weather is forecasted to be fine. The Ursids is the cosmic debris of comet Tuttle, it originates from the Ursa Minor constellation.

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