WATCH ABOVE: German astronomer Andreas Vogel on the Geminids meteor shower.
As the Geminids meteor shower reached its annual peak on the morning of Dec. 14, astronomer Andreas Vogel of Bremen’s Olbers Planetarium was observing the phenomenon from near the town of Dangast, located on Germany’s North Sea coast.
The stream of shooting stars, meteors burning up as they enter the earths atmosphere, is thought to be intensifying every year.
The slow-moving nature of the meteors makes them a popular astronomical event for observers across the globe, according to Vogel, who said that in perfect conditions around 120 shooting stars might be visible in an hour.
In Canada, the peak passed largely unnoticed as most of the country was under cloud cover.
Vogel explained that the meteor shower is called the “Geminids” because they appear as though they are shooting out of the constellation of Gemini.
The meteors are thought to be small pieces of asteroid Phaeton, a dust cloud revolving around the sun.
Phaeton is thought to have lost all of its gas and to be slowly breaking apart into small particles.
— With files from Associated Press
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