(WSYR-TV, Syracuse) - Tonight will be the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. Typically, this meteor shower is one of the best events of the year, with peak meteor rates approaching roughly 120 per hour.
These meteors tend to be slow moving and bright.
This year's peak occurs during time of new moon, so there will be no interference from Earth's satellite, and skies will be nice and dark.
Fortunately, for Central New York, the weather will also cooperate. Clear skies will be the rule, providing an excellent viewing opportunity.
This shower is an easy one to enjoy since the radiant (place where the meteors tend to originate from) will be moving just about overhead late Thursday evening and will remain high in the sky right through the peak time.
Meteors should be visible anytime after skies get dark, but the most numerous ones will be after midnight Thursday night.
To view the show, you'll want to be away from city lights. You don't need a telescope or binoculars. All you need to do is head outside after dark, and look up. You'll want to bundle up, as temperatures should drop to near 30 degrees by Friday morning.
NASA Television will be
streaming the meteor shower online from its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Meteor experts will be also be answering questions from the public via a
late-night Web chat.
