One of the most spectacular meteor showers, the startling streaks of multi-coloured Geminids meteor shower will brighten up the sky on Wednesday night enthralling astronomy enthusiasts. The meteor shower consists of shooting stars whizzing past in the skies. As the point of origin of the shower lies in the direction of the constellation of Gemini, they have been named Geminids, who produce up to 60 shooting stars.

Geminid meteor showers will be seen on the night of December 14 and 15, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) President CB Devgun said. The source of the meteor shower is not a comet but a rocky asteroid named 3200 Phaethon, which is in a highly elliptical 1.4 year orbit. The best time to view these multi-coloured bright, medium-speed meteors in the mesmerising night skies will be from 10:05 pm to midnight in the eastern horizon on Wednesday. The ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate which is a measure of how many meteors one can see in an hour) for Geminids is about 50-100, which is quite high, he said.

To see the maximum shooting stars the area should have minimum light pollution, Devgun said, adding the best time would be around midnight above the horizon towards the East. The showers can be seen with a naked eye and no aid is required provided the sky is clear and not hazy.