The annual Geminid meteor shower which is considered one of the mostreliable displays of shooting stars, will take place this weekend andcan be observed in Vietnam, Vietnam Net online newspaper has reported.

According to Nguyen Duc Phuong, from the VietnamSpace Observatory Association, the Geminids, known as the "king" of themeteor showers, are already around, having been active only in a veryweak and scattered form since about December 7.

The2013 Geminid meteor shower is expected to be on an upswing in the nightsto come, leading up to its peak on the night of December 13, the earlymorning of December 14, with about 120 streaks/hour.

The meteors, which come from the constellation Gemini, may also bevisible at night from December 7 to 17, but "the best view of the+shooting stars+ should come between 1am and 4 am (local time) onDecember 14, " said the expert.

Skywatchers can finda spot with an open view of the sky and no lights to get in their eyes,and gaze into the constellation Gemini - the focal point of the meteorshower, when this constellation is quite high in comparison to thesoutheast horizon.

"This time the bright moonlightmay affect the observations, but the Geminids is the large meteor showerwith lots of bright meteors so we can still enjoy the interesting,colorful party of meteors," Phuong added.

Historically, this shower has a reputation for being rich both in slow,bright, meteors as well as rather faint meteors, with relatively few ofmedium brightness.

Many Geminid meteor showerstreaks appear yellowish in hue. Every once in a while, a Geminidfireball will blaze forth, bright enough to be quite spectacular andmore than capable of attracting attention even in bright moonlight.

The Geminids have a tendency to rise slowly toward their maximum. Theday before they peak, the majority of the meteors that are seen areusually rather faint.

But at the peak as well asthe day after, the shower is dominated by a preponderance of brightmeteors. And the intensity of the display drops off rather sharply theday after the peak.

Most of the meteor showeroriginated from comets, but for the Geminids, it is related to acelestial body called 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982.

Every day there are millions of meteorites falling to Earth on fire.They are too small and fragmented so the naked eyes cannot see them.

People can just observe bright meteors and when thereare many meteors appearing in the same area in the sky, known as meteorshowers.

Each year, the Earth has the opportunityto observe around 8 big meteor showers. These meteor showers oftenrepeat at the same time from year to year.-VNA