Spectacular meteor display expected this weekend

AUCKLAND: People up late this weekend preparing for Christmas will be rewarded with a truly biblical display of colourful shooting stars.

This weekend one of the brightest meteor showers on record will light up New Zealand skies. The Geminids are visible to the naked eye and observers in New Zealand will need no equipment to see them.

Like something out the Nativ ity story, the Geminids are also known as the ‘‘king of meteor showers’’ for their large tails which appear to burn in a variety of colours — from yellow, blue and red.

Those wishing to see the meteors should look northeast near the constellation Gemini, from which the meteors get their name.

However, amateur astronomers will have to stay up late for the full display. The shower will peak around 3am with between 10 to 30 meteors an hour.

Josh Kirkley, an Astronomy Educator at the Auckland Stardome observatory, has some advice for amateur stargazers.

‘‘The best time to see this shower is around 3am on Saturday, when it peaks in our skies. The meteors will originate from the constellation Gemini which will be due north at 3am on Saturday. You can expect to see up to 20 an hour during the peak, in a dark, clear area without light pollution.’’

Another stellar object in our skies at the moment is the Comet Wirtanen. This ‘‘Christmas comet’’ is one of the closest and brightest to pass in 70 years.

Passing every five years, the space rock takes on a bluegreen glow which is visible to the naked eye. Use binoculars to see the effect most clearly.

‘‘Comet Wirtanen is also visible to us in New Zealand. It is currently in our skies almost all night, and will be visible right after sunset when it gets dark. It is currently passing by the Matariki cluster in the northeast,’’ Mr Kirkley said.