The best meteor shower of the year will happen tonight and tomorrow night thanks to ideal weather conditions which will mean that up to three shooting stars a minute will be visible to the naked eye.
David Moore of Astronomy Ireland told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that this year’s geminid meteor shower will take place on what is expected to be a moonless night.
“It should be a really spectacular celestial fireworks display for the whole country,” he said, adding that geminates produce about 20 times more shooting stars or meteors than normal.
There will be no need for telescopes or binoculars as the meteor showers will be visible to the naked eye, he said.
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
Ceann comhairle election key task as 34th Dáil convenes for first time
Your EV questions answered: Am I better to drive my 13-year-old diesel until it dies than buy a new EV?
Workplace wrangles: Staying on the right side of your HR department, and more labrynthine aspects of employment law
Mr Moore encouraged people to stay outdoors for as long as possible and to count how many shooting stars they see in a 15 minute period and to let Astronomy Ireland know.
“We want people to count them. Tell us how many they see every 15 minutes. It’s as simple as that and that has real scientific value. That’s how we know this is the best shower of the year, because people have been counting it year in, year out, not scientists.”
Temperatures tonight should be above normal which should make meteor viewing more comfortable, he said. However, Mr More did acknowledge that clouds were a problem in Ireland. If conditions were not clear he advised the public to keep checking the sky.
“If it’s not clear, do keep checking the sky because I was doing it last night and for hours it was cloudy. Then miraculously it cleared up and I got to see at least a dozen of the geminids, even though we’re not at the peak.”
Mr Moore said that even city dwellers will be able to see the meteor shower because geminid showers are known for producing extremely bright “fireballs”.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here