The Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend, from late Saturday night into early Sunday morning (Dec. 13\u201314). Under dark, clear, rural skies, you could see more than 100 meteors an hour.<\/p>\n
The best viewing window is around 2 a.m. Central, but the good news is the Geminids stay near peak for 10\u201312 hours. That gives you plenty of flexibility to pick a time that works for you.<\/p>\n
The moon won\u2019t cause much trouble, either. It rises after midnight as a slim 26% crescent, nearly ideal conditions for meteor watching.<\/p>\n
Here in southeast Texas, the only problem, and it will be a big one, will be cloud cover.<\/p>\n
The radiant is from the constellation Gemini<\/p>\n
How the Geminids got their name:<\/b><\/p>\n
The Geminids are named after the constellation Gemini. If you trace the paths of the \u201cshooting stars,\u201d they all seem to originate from that part of the sky. That point is called the radiant.<\/p>\n
What makes this year especially good for viewing is the timing: Gemini rises around 7 p.m., which means you could start spotting meteors as early as 9 p.m. Saturday. And because the Geminids have a broad maximum, many of the meteors tend to be bright and vividly colored.<\/p>\n