The Geminids Meteor Shower is often one of the best each year.  The rate of meteors is high and they are relatively slow moving, thus giving you more time to see them.  Furthermore, since they happen in early December, the sky gets dark much earlier, so you don’t have to stay up very late to see them (especially good for young children).  And this year the peak of the shower (Dec. 13-14) falls near the New Moon, so the sky will be very dark.

On the other hand, meteors are fun to watch in a relaxed, comfortable manner, while the temperature in December is not very comfortable for most of us.  And here in the Pacific Northwest, it is very likely that we won’t see anything because of a 100% cloud cover.

I had been thinking about going to a dark sky location on Sunday, but based on the forecast, I’ve now put my motorhome (“Starship Gamma Pictoris”) into Winter storage.  So I hope that readers not in this area get a good show.  Let me know if you do!