If you stayed up late into the night to see the Geminids meteor shower reach its peak, you probably caught a glimpse of some shooting stars, especially in the Toronto area or the GTA. Stargazers have taken to social media to share their excitement and surprise at what they saw in the skies during last night’s meteor shower.
The Geminids shower began on Friday, December 3rd but peaked on the night of December 13th and 14th. According to EarthSky, the Geminids favours the Northern Hemisphere, so Canadians were treated to some of the best views of this annual display.
One person on Reddit claims to have seen four shooting stars in Scarborough in the early morning hours on Tuesday. “Honestly one of the most amazing things to see when randomly looking up at the sky,” they wrote.
“Just saw two going in different directions near High Park at 6:00 AM,” one comment reads. Another person said they saw several of them in Milton.
One person on Twitter was also caught off guard by last night’s activity in the skies.
Was that a meteor over Toronto just now? In the Western sky.
— Brett – #BLM (@bzmw_) December 14, 2021
Nicole Mortillaro, the editor of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, tweeted that she saw over 60 Geminid meteors in a span of three hours and even a few fireballs in the Toronto area, despite the light-polluted skies of the city.
Had a great time watching the #Geminids with @glifencibles as a #virtualstarparty. Well, I mean, we were outside, but about 12 kms apart. Some great fireballs and even a couple of head-on ones. Total of about 60 over 3 hrs from the light-polluted skies of #Toronto. A win!
— Nicole Mortillaro (@NebulousNikki) December 14, 2021
“Seriously…if you have clear skies, GO OUT AND LOOK UP,” she added. “I’ve seen about 10 #Geminids, about three of them were fireballs. One lasted about 2ish seconds. Toronto peeps…go out!”
One person shared a photo of a shooting star over Toronto’s skies on December 4th, the second night of the meteor shower.
Meteor shower under #Toronto’s sky#meteor #shower #blogto #sky #astrology #night #december #narcity pic.twitter.com/9WwoTt6UZ4
— Miguel Carvalho (@ruimiguel_17) December 4, 2021
If you missed the show last night, don’t worry — you still have a chance to catch some views. Astronomers told NPR that the best time to see the Geminids is during its peak, but the meteor shower itself will last until December 17th.
