If you like meteor showers and make wishes every time you see one, the night of December 13 to 14 is your day in 2013. The last meteor shower of the year, that of the Geminids will reach its peak of "fall" of meteors that night around 6:45 a.m., although the show will be dulled by the Moon, which will be in one of its brightest phases. The Geminids can be seen in the sky until December 17 .
Meteor showers occur when rock and dust particles left behind by comets enter Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate, leaving a visible star at night. In this case, the Geminid meteor shower occurs every year between December 7 and 17, when the asteroid 3200 Phaeton, a strange rocky body discovered on October 11, 1983, approaches the Sun by the infrared satellite IRAS. from NASA.
Along with the Quadrantid Meteor Shower (which occurs in January) and the Perseid Meteor Shower (visible in August), this is one of the most spectacular Meteor Showers of the year. In fact, under optimal observation conditions, up to 120 shooting stars can be observed per hour .
