Up to 50 times more shooting stars than a normal night are expected.
Stargazers in this part of the world are in for a treat this Wednesday evening, when the biggest meteor shower of the year over Ireland is set to light up the skies.
An annual event, the meteor shower known as ‘The Geminids’ will be visible all over the globe at various stages of this week, with tonight, Wednesday, marking the best night to see it in Ireland.
David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland, said that “up to 50 times more shooting stars than a normal night are expected in what should be a wonderful natural celestial fireworks display”.
Tonight, Wednesday December 13th, sees the biggest meteor shower of the year over Ireland, called "The Geminids".
Wrap up well and get out there to watch a spectacular event in the sky.
Full details at… https://t.co/oKwkAfloW4— Astronomy Ireland 🪐 🔭 🛰 (@AstronomyIRL) December 13, 2017
"Up to 50 times more shooting stars than a normal night are expected in what should be a wonderful natural celestial fireworks display", according to David Moore.
— Astronomy Ireland 🪐 🔭 🛰 (@AstronomyIRL) December 13, 2017
We are asking members of the public to count how many they see every 15 minutes and send in their counts via our website https://t.co/CpcaQK8EC0 as it is the general public who keep an annual eye on meteor showers and allow us to forecast when the best ones occur.
— Astronomy Ireland 🪐 🔭 🛰 (@AstronomyIRL) December 13, 2017
Astronomy Ireland is urging members of the public to count how many meteors they can see in the sky every 15 minutes (if possible, start on the hour or quarter past the hour), note it down and to contact them with the details.
More information on how to do so can be found on the Astronomy Ireland website here.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the weather will lend itself to ideal stargazing conditions, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
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