Geminid meteor shower peaks Wednesday night

Overnight, the peak viewing time will be around 2 a.m.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The chance to catch a dazzling meteor display at its best exists overnight Wednesday.

The Geminid meteor shower will peak during the overnight hours of Wednesday into Thursday. This meteor shower consists of upwards of 120 meteors per hour, which gives plenty of opportunity for viewing.

The sun sets at 4:43 p.m. in Buffalo which allows for it to get dark around dinner time, and a dark sky with a waxing crescent moon provides for ideal conditions. Viewing of the meteors begins late evening into the dawn hours of Thursday. Overnight, the peak viewing time will be around 2 a.m.

When viewing, you want to look east towards the Gemini constellation. If you need extra help pin-pointing where to look, you can draw a line through the Big Dipper and follow it opposite of the handle of the Big Dipper which will lead you towards Gemini. Areas with low light pollution will have the best chance to see meteors.

There is also a difference between this meteor shower compared to others. This specific meteor shower is from an asteroid, compared to most meteor showers that are a result of comets. The asteroid that causes the Geminid shower is called the 3200 Phaeton, and every mid-December, Earth's orbit sees particles from this asteroid which we view.

Weather across Western New York looks to cooperate tonight as we see some patchy clouds at times but most will be mostly clear. You will also want to bundle up as temperatures fall into the 20s overnight.