Sunday's Geminid meteor shower likely to be most impressive in years but obscured by clouds

Sunday night is the best chance all year to see shooting stars — or it would be, if the weather behaved.

“I don’t see any hope,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Brown. “I just think we’re going to have very high clouds.”

The Geminid meteor shower is an annual event. On a clear, dark night, stargazers can see up to 150 meteors per hour, said University of Pittsburgh research professor of astronomy Sandhya Rao.

“The Geminids are actually the best meteor shower of the year,” she said.

Most meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through tiny debris left in the wake of comets. The Geminids are a little different — the debris comes from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, which orbits the sun every 1.4 years. The pieces of debris are tiny, many about the size of a grain of sand, Rao said. But, as they burn up in the atmosphere, they make for impressive shooting stars.

“It’s like driving through a rainstorm,” Rao said.

The shower gets its name because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Gemini in the eastern sky.

On a clear night, meteors can be seen starting around 9 p.m. and continuing through the early morning hours, with the peak between midnight and 4 a.m.

If it weren’t for the cloud cover, this year would have made for especially good viewing, Rao said. Usually moonlight obscures some of the dimmer meteors, but this year’s shower will coincide with the New Moon, which means those watching from a dark place with low light pollution will have a chance at one-of-a-kind views.

Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh region probably won’t be able to enjoy the show.

“I would say there’s a very low chance,” Brown said.