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The Geminid meteor shower is upon us and might be one of the best ever

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<p>It's that time of the year again. No, I'm not taking about Christmas, I'm talking about meteors. </p><p>Each December, Earth passes through the cloud of debris produced by rock comet <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT3D6t8VT-k" target="_blank">3200 Phaethon</a>, resulting in arguably the best meteor shower of the year — the Geminid shower.</p><p>This year's shower will peak Saturday night into Sunday morning and NASA says as many as 100 to 120 meteors will fall per hour. </p><p>3200 Phaethon is believed to have come from the asteroid belt and produces a tail of debris when its orbit takes it too close to the sun.  </p><p>The Geminid meteoroids got their name because they appear to fly out of the constellation Gemini.</p><p>NASA explains Geminids are very dense and are able to penetrate deep into the atmosphere, producing bright and visible "falling stars."</p><p>Some of the meteoroids are so dense they could even make it to the Earth's surface. </p><p><a href="http://www.space.com/23890-geminid-meteor-shower-peak-bright-moon.html" target="_blank">Last year</a>, the moon was so bright the shower was hard to see, but this year the moon is waning and should allow more visibility for the meteoroids. </p><p>Experts say for best viewing, get away from city lights, find an elevated spot to watch the show and give you eyes plenty of time to adjust to the dark. But, if you don't want to brave the cold to watch the shower, there are other options. </p><p>NASA is <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc" target="_blank">providing a Ustream</a> feed from a telescope at its Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The agency is also hosting an overnight <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids_2014.html" target="_blank">web chat</a> to answer questions. </p><p><a href="http://live.slooh.com/" target="_blank">Slooh.com</a> also will have live visual and audio feeds of the shower. </p><p><em>This video includes images from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/47217301@N06/8271404575" target="_blank">Shan Sheehan / CC BY ND 2.0</a>, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/5285830414" target="_blank">Luis Argerich / CC BY NC 2.0</a>, </em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sergiu_bacioiu/" target="_blank">Sergiu Bacioiu</a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sergiu_bacioiu/8282853841/in/photostream/" target="_blank"> / CC BY NC 2.0</a> <em>and Getty Images. </em></p>
Posted at 7:26 AM, Dec 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-14 06:58:19-05

If you're looking for a fantastic light show December 13-14, all you need to do is look up.

The annual Geminid meteor shower is one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year. This year is expected to be the best meteor shower ever.

"With August's Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year," said Bill Cooke, with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, in a news release. "The thin, waning crescent moon won't spoil the show."

But there's another reason why the Geminids are special.

Most meteor showers are caused by comets. The Geminids are associated with an asteroid called the 3200 Phaethon. Having an asteroid as the foundation of a meteor shower provides an excellent source of dust grains that will burn up as they dive into the Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. That's why some researchers call Phaethon a "rock comet."

The meteor shower was named after the constellation Gemini because many of the meteors appear to come from that constellation. You can use apps like as Sky Guide for iOS and Sky Map for Android to help find it.

The Geminids can be seen all around the world. No matter where you are viewing, NASA says the meteor shower will reach its peak between 7:30 p.m. on December 13 and dawn the morning of December 14, with the most meteors visible from midnight to 4 a.m. on December 14.

Even with this year's great weather conditions, you'll still want to get far away from city lights for optimal viewing. If you're watching under a clear and dark sky, Sky & Telescope magazine predicts you could see a meteor every minute or two on average.

If it's too cloudy in your area, have no fear. You can watch it online. Here are few options.

 

 

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