The last two meteor showers this year will occur in the next few weeks. Gemini and Ursa will be visible in the night sky in December.

The first and most famous shower Gemini meteor shower will reach its peak on the morning of Tuesday the 14th.

Unfortunately, just before the new moon, this year's show is not expected to be that spectacular, but it is still worthwhile for sky observers with 50-150 meteors per hour during peak periods. According to Space.com, the moon will overwhelm many meteors, however, their brightness will diminish.

The Gemini meteor shower seems to come from the constellation Gemini (Gemini) in the southwestern sky, but the meteors will pass through all parts of the sky. Although most meteors come from comets, the Gemini meteor shower actually comes from an asteroid (3200 Phatheon); Jupiter’s gravity helps make the display stronger every year.

The last meteor shower of 2021 will be the Ursa Major meteor shower, which should reach its highest visibility on December 21-22. It is not as active as Gemini; only 5-10 meteors per hour are expected. The moon will be full on the 18th, so it will still be very bright, making meteors harder to see.

As always, it is recommended that you look for viewpoints away from the city lights for the best performance.

Looking ahead, the first meteor shower in 2022 will be the Quadrantid meteor shower, which will peak around January 2 to 4. Although the meteors in this show do not have particularly long tails, they can produce bright fireballs.

The opinions expressed in the above post are only those of Bill Doyle, the host of the 101.5 talk show in New Jersey.

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