Amateur stargazers in the run-up to Christmas are in for a spectacle, as the annual Geminids meteor shower returns to the night skies.
The Geminids are already visible in the night sky, but they're slowly building in visibility - this year, the peak will be on the night of 13-14 December, with over 100 meteors an hour visible in optimal conditions.
The Geminids originate from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, which orbits around the Sun and passes close to Earth every year.
As Phaethon, which around 3.17 miles in diameter, hurtles through the sky, it leaves small pieces of debris behind - and when the Earth passes through this trail, we see meteors in the sky.
Some of the particles are no bigger than a grain of sand, but when it's dark outside we can see the light created when they burn up in the atmosphere.
As the name suggests, the Geminids look as though they come from the constellation Gemini - to spot them, look towards the east, around two-thirds of the way up the sky, and you should be able to spot them.
They're most visible in the middle of the night, around 2am, but some should be visible earlier and later in the night.
Light pollution from homes, streetlights and vehicles can make even stars harder to spot, so for the best chance of spotting them, it's best to spot them from somewhere isolated and away from artificial light.
Fortunately, there's no danger of getting struck by a falling Geminid - they're not big enough to make it through our atmosphere unscathed, so all the meteors burn up before they get within 24 miles of the Earth's surface.
