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Geminids meteor shower: second chance for sightings on Sunday night

Date: December 14, 2014 - 12:45PM

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Anna Whitelaw

Don't miss the best meteor shower of 2014

Jonti Horner gives his tips for viewing the upcoming Geminid shower, touted as one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year.

Melburnians will get a second chance to see the Geminids meteor shower after Saturday night's spectacle proved to be a fizzer.
The annual meteor shower - the only event visible in both hemispheres - will see pea-sized pieces of cosmic rock lighting up the night sky on Sunday night when it hits the Earth's atmosphere.
The first predicted glimpse of the Geminids on Saturday night turned out to be less than spectacular.
While the meteor shower was expected to begin at 11pm, few of those with their eyes to the sky reported seeing the shooting stars.

Several people vented their frustration on social media.
At 11.20pm, Marcus Powell joked on The Age's Facebook page that "the only shower is in my bathroom".
Adriano Padula said: "All I've gotten is about 15 mozzie bites".
Fellow reader Neil Anderson vented: "What a jip! Nothing for 40 minutes and then the high cloud cover rolls in".
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said patchy, high-level cloud over metropolitan Melbourne may have obscured sightings of the shower before midnight.
"If the meteor shower is very faint, it might only take a thin layer of cloud to make it difficult to see," he said.
Low-level clouds are expected over Melbourne's west, bayside and northern suburbs which may impede the view of the main event on Sunday night.
The best places to view the peak of the meteor shower would be in Melbourne's eastern and north-eastern suburbs, Mr Dickson said.
Send your photographs of the meteor shower to scoop@theage.com.au or via Twitter to @theage