Best meteor shower of year peaks tonight. Here’s what you need to know in Lowcountry

The Geminid meteor shower has been called the “king of meteor showers”, and Wednesday night is its peak.

Sky-watchers in the Lowcountry late Wednesday and early Thursday can expect to see dozens of meteors each hour if the clouds cooperate. There could be up to 50-120 per hour or 1-2 each minute, according to Earth Sky.

The forecast for Beaufort County is clear with lows in the upper 30s to lower 40s, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston.

Last year, the Geminid shower peaked around the time of a full moon, making the sky too bright to see fainter meteors, according to National Geographic. Wednesday night, however, the sky will be dark and almost moonless.

The Farmer’s Almanac says the moon will be a waning crescent.

Meteors should be able to be seen starting around 9 or 10 p.m., and the shower will peak around 2 a.m., says Space.com.

The Geminid shower happens every December, when Earth passes through debris shed by “a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon,” according to a news release from NASA. The dust and grit burn up when they run into Earth’s atmosphere.

As an added bonus this year, astronomers will have a chance to study Phaethon up close in mid-December, when it passes nearest to Earth since its discovery in 1983, the news release says.

Tips for sky-watching

▪  Bright lights can hinder your ability to see meteors. Find a place away from lights, and give your eyes some time to adapt to the dark. This might take up to 20 minutes.

▪  For the best chance to see meteors, watch from a place where you can see a wide expanse of sky, Earth Sky recommends.

▪  The shower will appear from the direction of the constellation Gemini and climb slowly into the sky throughout the night. You’ll be able to see meteors anywhere you look, but concentrating your attention on that constellation means you’ll see more of them.

▪  If you can’t find Gemini, astronomers recommend looking to the south, Time and Date says.

▪  If the sky is cloudy, NASA will be broadcasting the Geminid shower live via Ustream starting at sunset Wednesday from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This story was originally published December 2, 2017 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Best meteor shower of year peaks tonight. Here’s what you need to know in Lowcountry."