Meteor fans raise eyes to heavens

Sky gazers who were thwarted by clouds last night as they sought a glimpse of the annual Geminid meteor shower can try their luck again tonight.

According to Met Éireann, there will be some patchy cloud tonight but long, clear periods in many areas, with dry but cold weather. However, a spokesman for Met Éireann said it was difficult to produce cloud conditions in specific parts of the country tonight as there was no particular weather front relating to likely cloud cover.

The meteors, which come from an asteroid thought to be the nucleus of a dead comet, will be visible all night from dusk until dawn, with the best time being after midnight. They will appear to come from a source in the constellation Gemini, in the southeast.

Despite the less-than-optimal viewing conditions last night, Astronomy Ireland said it has received hundreds of reports from people who spotted the shooting stars. The organisation is again asking people to count how many meteors they see, in 15 minute blocks, and to email their results to meteor@astronomy.ie.

Over the coming week, astronomers will compile all the reports to produce a final set of data that will be available on www.astronomy.ie.