Every December, Earth crosses a vast stream of cosmic debris left behind by 3200 Phaethon, an unusual asteroid-like object that travels on an elongated orbit around the Sun. As our planet moves through this trail, tiny fragments — some no larger than grains of sand — collide with Earth’s atmosphere at around 127,000 km/h. Friction and compression heat them to thousands of degrees, causing them to vaporize high above the ground and produce the brief, brilliant streaks of light we call meteors.
This annual encounter creates the Geminid meteor shower, one of the strongest and most reliable meteor showers of the year, capable of producing up to around 120–150 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. And because the Geminids are visible across much of the world, Bali offers a front-row seat — especially under dark skies, far from the island’s city lights.
