Meteor shower

"Normally when you hear that it's a good sign that you have got rocks that have made it to the surface. It's incredibly exciting and I'm a bit stunned."

The asteroid 2021 EQ3 will pass closest above us at about 9:45 p.m. Monday night, at a distance of around 278,000 kilometers – 72% of the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

About 50 meteors or more per hour can be seen on a dark night during the peak of the Geminids, with optimum showers reaching as high as 150 per hour.

The light was so bright it could be seen through closed curtains.

The meteors in the Perseids shower tend to be bright so skywatchers may be able to spot up to 40 to 50 meteors per hour, if not more, even if the moonlight is bright on Tuesday night.

The annual shower is typically visible from late April until the end of May, however, peak activity normally occurs on or around May 5 when Earth's orbit passes through the separated debris trail.

Only 10-20 nights every year have showers reaching 20 meteors an hour, so the show is still worth braving the December chill, especially since the Geminids are often bright and intensely colored.

The Taurid meteors often appear yellow or orange, giving them the general classification of representing fireballs.

On the bright side, the moon does sit relatively low in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere this time of year, so much of the sky will still be relatively dark.