Geminids 2017 in pictures: Amazing photos of spectacular meteor shower

The shower peaked between midnight and dawn on Wednesday night into Thursday morning as between 50 to 60 meteors were seen each hour.

If you missed the annual spectacle, there will be individual meteors visible in the sky until Saturday and the origin of the Geminids – asteroid 3200 Phaethon – will be orbiting close to earth on Saturday.

The 2017 meteor shower was extra special as 3200 Phaethon is nearby with the meteors travelling at speeds up to 70 kilometres per second, vaporising and creating the streaks of light we see in the night sky.

The meteors radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini, hence the name Geminids, so the best time to see the meteors was when the night sky was the darkest between midnight and the early hours of Thursday morning.

The shower coincided with a waxing crescent moon this year, which meant visibility was clear so stargazers had a good chance of seeing the shower. 

NASA has said the Geminid meteor showers is one of the best and most reliable meteor showers and compared favourably to the Perseids meteor shower in August which was obscured by bright moonlight.

Bill Cooke, at NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office said: “With August’s Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year.

“The thin, waning crescent Moon won’t spoil the show.”

The meteor shower is an annual event and happens every December when Earth passes through a trail of debris which is shed by 3200 Phaethon and the dust and grit burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere in a flurry of shooting stars.

The best view this year was in the Northern Hemisphere, and stargazers would have seen fewer Geminids in the Southern Hemisphere, where the radiant does not climb very high over the horizon.

In case you missed the meteor shower, there are livestreams still broadcasting today, as cameras are pointed towards the shower at the Tenagra Observatories in Arizona at 10am GMT today. 

“With August’s Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year,” said Bill Cooke with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “The thin, waning crescent Moon won’t spoil the show.”

The Virtual Telescope Project will also livestream the Asteroid 3200 Phaethon once it comes closer to earth.

The Phaethon livestream will be broadcast from 8am GMT on Friday December 15 from Arizona and a second broadcast will follow on Saturday December 16 in Italy. 

Skygazers who wanted to view the shower needed to head away from the city lights and go to a place with a view of the open sky. The meteors were powerful and bright enough to view with the naked eye.