As you stargaze this week, you’ll have a chance to see bright streaks across the sky as the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak.

The Geminids, which are bright and have a yellow hue, are considered one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers, when at least 120 meteors per hour are usually spotted at their peak, NASA says.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks in mid-December, with the most activity this year expected late Friday and early Saturday, according to NASA.

Unlike other meteors that come from comets, the Geminids are believed to come from an asteroid – 3200 Phaethon – that is nearly 5 kilometers in diameter and orbits the sun every 1.4 years. Discovered on October 11, 1983, it is named after Phaethon, the child of the sun god Helios in Greek mythology, who led his father’s chariot close to the sun. In the night sky, the meteors appear to come from the constellation Gemini, which is where the Gemini gets its name.

While the Geminids are one of the most anticipated astronomical events, astronomers are warning against getting too high hopes for a cosmic shooting star show this year.

Here’s why – and how you can best maximize your chances.

Gemini competes with a full moon

The Cold Moon, the last full moon of the year, will rise on Saturday and its brightness will outshine some of the shooting stars normally visible in the Geminids. The moon’s brightness is expected to reduce visibility by 50 to 75%, Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tells NPR. If you’re in the US, you can expect to see around 15 Geminids per hour, compared to the usual 120.

And the Geminid rate will drop to “virtually zero” by Monday evening, Cooke says.

If you do give it a try, here are some viewing tips

The Geminids are best viewed at night and before dawn and are visible all over the world.

Starting Thursday, you may be able to see more meteors in the night sky.

While there’s a chance that the full moon’s light will blot out fainter meteors, you’ll still be able to see some, Dakotah Tyler, a graduate student in astronomy and astrophysics at UCLA who studies exoplanets, tells NPR.

“Staying away from city light pollution and giving your eyes 15 to 20 minutes to adjust to the darker conditions will increase your sensitivity,” says Tyler, adding that you don’t need a telescope to see them see. “A telescope would actually limit your field of view too much and would likely cause you to miss a series of bright meteors that come from a predictable direction but are still scattered upon arrival.”

He also says to be patient.

“Get a nice little blanket, maybe a speaker and some hot cocoa and enjoy watching some billion-year-old space rocks burn up in our nice, cozy atmosphere,” says Tyler.

If you have clear skies, you can also see bright meteors “if you look in a direction that has the moon behind you,” according to the American Meteor Society.

Next year it will be better

If you don’t see as many twins as you hoped – or none at all – you have a better chance of seeing them in December 2025, according to NASA.

This month’s full moon will occur on December 4, 2025, earlier than when the Geminids are expected to peak in mid-December and the moon will be waning and not as bright.

There’s another meteor shower this year: the Ursids, which peak between December 21st, the day of the winter solstice, and the early hours of December 22nd. But the moon’s light dimming will also spoil this meteor shower, which usually gives stargazers a chance to see at least 5 to 10 meteors per hour.

This is also a good time to see some planets in our solar system, including Mars, which approaches Earth every night and gets a little brighter each night with its reddish, yellow glow, Tyler says.

And with a telescope or binoculars, Tyler says, you might even be able to see Saturn’s rings.