AUSTIN (KXAN) — Prepare to witness one of the most dazzling celestial events of the year as the Geminid meteor shower graces the night sky. The shower reaches its peak on Saturday night, December 13, offering a spectacular display of over a hundred meteors per hour.

Lara Eakins, who serves as the public outreach coordinator for the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, highlights the family-friendly nature of this event: “It’s one really good shower that’s kind of more bedtime friendly for kids.”

The prime time to view this celestial spectacle is between 8 and 9 p.m. on Saturday, as the meteors will appear to emanate from the Gemini constellation in the eastern sky. This cosmic show will continue through the night, providing ample opportunity to catch a glimpse of the shooting stars.

While the Geminid meteors have been active since December 4 and will continue to streak across the sky until December 20, this weekend offers the optimal viewing experience.

Eakins explains the unique nature of the Geminid shower: “It comes regularly because the Earth is actually passing through a point in its orbit where it goes through a debris stream that’s left behind by the parent body of this particular shower. Now, for most meteor showers, it’s a comet that does that, but the Geminids are weird. They actually have a parent body that seems to be more like an asteroid than a comet.”

That asteroid, Phaethon, orbits our sun. It goes a little beyond Mars and then between Mercury and the Sun. Phaethon is also blue, rather unusual for an asteroid. The asteroid may be a remnant of another blue asteroid, Pallas.

According to Eakins, the best way to see this shower is to get away from city lights and look East around 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The event should be visible right near Jupiter, which will be extra bright this weekend.

Eakins described the meteor shower like driving in snow, when “all of the snowflakes appear to be coming out in all directions around you.”

“There’s that same effect, you know, it’s that they’re streaking all around you,” he explained.

Later that night, the moon will rise in the east and will make it hard to see the meteor shower. At this time, look to the west so you can see the meteors zip toward their final destination.