The Geminid meteor shower will happen on the intervening night of Thursday and will continue well into Friday night.
The meteor is a celestial occurrence which takes place every December. It occurs between 4th and 16th in the last month of the year.
Named after the Gemini constellation, the meteor is said to originate from a spot near the Castor star in the constellation. It was first discovered 35 years ago.
One of the most magical events of the year, the debris of the asteroid 32000 Phaethon goes past the Earth, painting the sky with bright streaks.
Named after a the Sun God Apollo's son from the Greek mythology, Phaethon travels very close to the Sun every 523.5 days when it travels between Mercury and the Sun.
The Geminids meteors travel at 35 kilometres per hour as it reaches Earth.
Google also celebrated the astronomical event with a very apt doodle. In a blog post, Google wrote, "Today's slideshow Doodle follows the Geminids' path through Earth's atmosphere as it lights up the sky."
Where and when to watch?
In India, you can watch the meteor shower after 9 PM on Thursday night and make sure you face the South. You will be able to see 120 meteors per hour. To get the best view, the sky should be clear and preferably, the area should not be polluted since pollutants in the air could cause problems with visibility.
