The Geminid meteor shower is underway and the peak is set to occur this weekend.

The shower is known for its vivid colors and high intensity. It can fall slowly and even produce fireballs. Many shooting stars show up as yellowish streaks.

The International Meteor Organization ranks the Geminids as the "best and most reliable of the major annual showers presently observable" on its Meteor Shower Calendar .

The meteors stem from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which takes 1.4 years to orbit the earth – according to NASA . It is potentially a "dead comet" as it does not develop a cometary tail when it passes by the sun and the bits and pieces that break off to form Geminid meteors are several times denser than cometary dust flakes.

The space agency says that the Geminid shower is consid

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