Geminid Meteor Shower To Peak This Weekend | HuffPost

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Geminid Meteor Shower To Peak This Weekend

Jesse Ferreras— The Huffington Post Canada

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Even space is providing people with a little magic this holiday season.

The Geminid meteor shower is set to peak Saturday night (Dec. 13) and Sunday morning, National Geographic reported.

Meteors will appear to originate in the Gemini constellation, which is located near Orion.

This meteor shower has baffled scientists in the past because, unlike similar phenomena, it doesn't occur when Earth passes through a comet debris field.

Instead, Earth will travel through debris left by 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid or "rock comet" whose gravelly tail results from "thermal fracturing" when it orbits the sun, according to NASA.

No other named asteroid orbits closer to the sun than 3200 Phaethon. Its proximity to the star results in a trail of rocky debris that moves slowly, unlike the quick, icy kind associated with comets, The Weather Network said.

The meteor shower will last from Dec. 4 to 16, but the best time to see it is on Saturday night just before midnight, according to National Geographic.

Like with any meteor shower, your chances of seeing streaking space rocks will improve the further you are from city lights.

The magazine estimates stargazers can see 60 to 100 meteors per hour away from the city, a rate that falls to 20 to 30 meteors per hour in suburbs.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Pictures

Perseids(01 of23)

(credit:Rex)

(02 of23)

A meteor shines, top left, while entering the earth's atmosphere during the Perseid Meteor Shower observed early Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013, in this long exposure picture taken from village of Kozle, just southeast of Skopje, Macedonia. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) (credit:AP)

Meteor Shower Over The United Kingdom(03 of23)

HOLMES CHAPEL, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 13: A Perseid meteor (R) streaks across the sky past the light trail of an aircraft over the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank on August 13, 2013 in Holmes Chapel, United Kingdom.The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

Meteor Shower Over The United Kingdom(04 of23)

HOLMES CHAPEL, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 13: A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky over the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank on August 13, 2013 in Holmes Chapel, United Kingdom.The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

Meteor Shower Over The United Kingdom(05 of23)

HOLMES CHAPEL, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 13: A Perseid meteor (R) streaks across the sky past the light trail of an aircraft over the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank on August 13, 2013 in Holmes Chapel, United Kingdom.The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

Perseid meteor shower(06 of23)

A meteor is seen during the Perseids meteor shower over the one of the stones of the Avebury's Neolithic henge monument in Wiltshire. (credit:PA)

Perseid meteor shower(07 of23)

A meteor is seen during the Perseids meteor shower over the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. (credit:PA)

(08 of23)

In this photo provided by Kevin Clifford, a meteor from the annual Perseid meteor shower falls from space over ruins at Fort Churchill State Historic Park on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in Silver Springs, Nev. The Perseid meteors are debris left from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Fort Churchill was built in 1861 by the United States army to protect early settlers. (AP Photo/Kevin Clifford) (credit:AP)

Annual Perseid Meteor Shower Is Seen From Nevada Desert(09 of23)

CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK, NV - AUGUST 12: A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky on August 12, 2013 in Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

Annual Perseid Meteor Shower Is Seen From Nevada Desert(10 of23)

CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK, NV - AUGUST 12: A Perseid meteor (R) streaks across the sky on August 12, 2013 in Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

(11 of23)

Perseid Meteor shower picture taken by Darren Wood

Meteor Shower Over The United Kingdom(12 of23)

HOLMES CHAPEL, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 13: A Perseid meteor (R) streaks across the sky past the light trail of an aircraft over the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank on August 13, 2013 in Holmes Chapel, United Kingdom.The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)

(13 of23)

Perseid passing Andromeda Galaxy, taken in Ashdown Forest 12-08-13 picture taken by Darren Wood

Perseid meteor shower(14 of23)

A meteor is seen during the Perseids meteor shower over the one of the stones of the Avebury's Neolithic henge monument in Wiltshire. (credit:PA)

(15 of23)

In this long exposure photo, a streak appears in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain in the early hours of Monday Aug. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul White) (credit:AP)

(16 of23)

A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower behind a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain in the early hours of Monday Aug. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul White) (credit:AP)

(17 of23)

In this long exposure photo, a streak appears in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain in the early hours of Monday Aug. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul White) (credit:AP)

(18 of23)

In this photo taken with long shutter speed, a meteor sparks, lower right, while entering the earth's atmosphere behind an olive tree during the Perseids Meteor Shower, in Fanos village, central Greece, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids shower is visible from mid- July each year, with the peak in activity being between Aug. 9 and 14 depending on the particular location of the stream.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (credit:AP)

(19 of23)

Stars seen as streaks from a long camera exposure are seen behind and above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain, 2013. A sign on the bull, put up by protesters, reads "State schools" as a reference for a demand for the state funded schools to continue. (AP Photo/Paul White) (credit:AP)

(20 of23)

Taken in Yateley, Hampshire 11th August. Exposure 120 seconds at F4.5 by Alistair King

(21 of23)

This long exposure shows stars in the night sky during the Perseid meteor shower near Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. The annual Perseid meteor shower peaked early Monday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (credit:AP)

175980237(22 of23)

A multiple exposure picture taken in the early hours of August 11, 2013 shows a Perseids meteor shower in the sky, near the municipality of La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

(23 of23)

A multiple exposure picture taken in the early hours of August 11, 2013 shows a Perseids meteor shower in the sky, near the municipality of La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

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