Up to 120 meteors an hour are expected…

If you look up to the skies in the UAE over the next couple of nights, you’re potentially set to be in for a treat. A spectacular meteor shower is expected to light up the UAE skies, with up to 120 shooting stars to be seen per hour, according to The Dubai Astronomy Group.

The annual December Geminid meteor shower is considered to be amongst the most visually satisfying of any meteor showers throughout the year. The shower is said to run between December 4 and 16, however, the evenings of December 13 and 14 are when it’s expected to reach its peak.

According to the European Space Agency: “The shower appears to originate from a point in the constellation Gemini near the stars Castor and Pollux, but you do not have to look there – just watch whatever part of your sky offers the darkest view.”

The agency also said: “The Geminid meteoroids are tiny bits of rocky debris, sand-grains to pea-size, shed from a small asteroid named Phaethon.”

“Over the centuries, these particles have spread along the asteroid’s orbit to form a moving ‘river of rubble’ hundreds of millions of kilometres long. Earth’s own annual orbit around the Sun carries us through this stream of particles every mid-December.”

Want to make the most of it? The Dubai Astronomy Group is inviting you to join it for a family-friendly night under the stars on on December 13. It will take place in the Al Razeen desert, Abu Dhabi on Monday, December 13, from 10pm to 4am. You can register here.

Image: Getty