A meteor shower isn’t just one of the best free light shows around, it makes you stare at the sky and think about  stuff from the magnitude of the heavens to how easy it would be for something to smack into the Earth and snuff us out like a candle.

“It’s the Geminid meteor shower,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Alabama. “Start watching on Wednesday evening, Dec. 13th, around 9 p.m. local time,” he advises. “The display will start small but grow in intensity as the night wears on. By Thursday morning, Dec. 14th, people in dark, rural areas could see one or two meteors every minute.”

The source of the Geminids is a mysterious object named 3200 Phaethon. “No one can decide what it is,” says Cooke.

Watching a meteor shower with your kids is a great way to get them interested in astronomy.



  1. sdf says:

    Yeah, but can you control the display from a web-page? (sarcasm)

  2. ECA says:

    Can you clear the sky of clouds so someone can See it??

  3. Smartalix says:

    (waves hands vigorously)

    Go look now.

  4. Milton says:

    But I don’t WANT to think about something smacking the earth and snuffing me out like a candle.

    Besides, it’s still foggy here.

  5. bill says:

    Two Words: “Light Polution”

    Forget it! go get some sleep…

  6. joshua says:

    Gee Smartalix…..when getting your kids interested in Astronomy…..I hope you didn’t scare the bejesus out of them with the **smack into the Earth and snuff us out like a candle** speech!!!!! 🙂

  7. Smartalix says:

    When the blackout hit NYC a few years back the sky looked FANTASTIC. Considering how naked we are sitting here, when I pointed that aspect out to a friend who was with me at the time, he also pointed out that we are protected by those same naked distances that expose us.

  8. bill says:

    The sky (Stars) in Australia in the center near Uluru (the rock) are worth the 30hr trip.

  9. Mr. Fusion says:

    Smartalix,
    I hope to be able to watch the display with my seven yr old daughter. She has expressed an interest in space. I only hope the weather cooperates. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies, breezy, and cool.


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