If you're out and about on a clear night this weekend, make sure to look to the skies! The Geminids meteor shower, the most active shower of the year, is due to peak on the night of December 13 to 14, and will be clearly visible above Germany - as long as the weather plays ball.
The Perseids meteor shower tends to get the most attention, since it's active during warm summer nights in the Northern Hemisphere, but the Geminids are generally even more impressive and certainly one of the stargazing highlights of the year.
While your best chance of spotting the meteor shower is around 2 am on Sunday night, you may already have been lucky enough to spot a shooting star or two this week, as the shower builds to its peak this weekend.
The big show will arrive on the night between Sunday, December 13, and Monday, December 14, when up to 150 meteors per hour will be visible! That means you should be able to see a bold, white streak of light every minute or two after nightfall. Because the sun sets so early in December, the meteor shower is usually already in full swing by 9 pm.
You won't need any special equipment to catch a glimpse of these beauties, but experts advise setting aside at least an hour for stargazing to ensure your eyes have time to adapt to the darkness.
Even better - with a new moon falling on December 14 this month, we will be graced with extra-dark skies that will make the shooting stars even more spectacular. To be in with an even better chance of seeing the shower in all its glory, though, try to head out of the city and find somewhere that doesn’t have too much light pollution.
Plus, if you manage to stay awake, not only will you be treated with a breathtaking meteor display, but in the early hours of December 11, 12, and 13, after a night of meteor-watching, you might also be lucky enough to spot the planet Venus.
But, even with moonlight limited, you have to hope that the German weather will play ball. At the moment, the forecast for this weekend isn't looking very promising, with a strong chance that the show will be obscured by heavy cloud cover.