DECEMBER SKY SHOW
The Geminids Meteor Shower is set to reach its peak Thursday night (Dec. 13) into the early morning hours of Friday. The Geminids Meteor Shower is known as one of the best meteor showers of the year with over 50-120 meteors per hour at it's peak.
This year's meteor shower will be followed up by the passage of Comet 46-P/WIRTANEN. The comet will be at it's 10th closest point since 1950 come Sunday. Comet 46-P will zip by at an astonishing 21,000 mph just 7.1 million miles from Earth's surface.
Following Comet 46-P/WIRTANEN will be the Ursid Meteor Shower which is a much more tamed event of 5-10 meteors per hour peaking before this year's Winter Solstice.
FORECAST FOR VIEWING
Right viewing conditions for the Geminids are great with clear skies and cold conditions. Things look to change though as clouds and rain return to our forecast just in time for the peak show.
The good news is that most of the rain is expected during latter half of Friday and Saturday before drying up late Saturday into Sunday.
This creates and optimistic window for viewing both the meteor shower Thursday night into Friday and the rare Comet 46-P/WIRTANEN Sunday morning.
Clouds could be our worst enemy though so let's cross our fingers and hope they clear in time. Grab a telescope and enjoy!!!
