Why Facebook wants you to indulge in stargazing tonight

The meteor shower will start at around 10 pm on December 13 and peak at around 2 am on December 14

Facebook wants you to indulge in some stargazing tonight. The reason for this is simple. It’s the night of one of the most important celestial events of the year– Geminid meteor shower.

The Geminid meteor shower is called so because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Gemini in the night sky. Interestingly, the scientific community is divided on if its parent–  a ‘rocky object’ called 3200 Phaethon which was discovered in the year 1983– is a comet or an asteroid.

“Phaethon’s nature is debated. It’s either a near-Earth asteroid or an extinct comet, sometimes called a rock comet,” NASA wrote in a release quoting Bill Cooke, who’s working with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.

This year, the meteor shower will start at around 10 pm on December 13 and peak at around 2 am on December 14 in India.

So folks, are you ready for the fireworks show?

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