Summary:
“In ideal conditions, it would have been possible to sight around 90 shooting stars an hour at the peak. KOLKATA: Stargazers are set to brace the December night chill to catch a glimpse of an extraordinary cosmic display in the early hours of Saturday when hundreds of shooting stars streak through the sky. It is 5.8 km in diameter and is the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower.Asteroids are relatively small pieces of rock, often made of minerals and rock, going round the Sun in elliptic orbits. Meteorologists though warn the high illumination in Kolkata and haze caused by mist and dust pollution can play spoilsport.According to MP Birla Planetarium director (research & academic) Debiprosad Duari, Geminid meteor shower with a peak of 100 shooting stars in an hour is expected post midnight. Discovered in 1983, it was named after the Greek myth of Phaëthon, son of the sun god Helios..