"Turn your attention skyward Saturday evening and you should be able to catch the peak of the annual Geminids meteor shower. The yellow dancing streaks light up the night sky every December with meteors zipping through the heavens at a rate of 120 an hour, according to NASA. Stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere will have the best view, but the meteor shower will be visible in the Southern Hemisphere as well."
"Most meteor showers are the debris left behind from comets large, tailed blobs of ice and dust. But the Geminids shower originates from Asteroid 3200 Phaethon a relatively small (3.17 miles across) celestial oddity that scientists are still trying to understand. Asteroids differ from comets in that asteroids are rocky metallic masses typically found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while comets are typically mostly ice."
The Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak on Saturday evening and can produce about 120 meteors per hour. The meteors appear as yellow, dancing streaks visible from both hemispheres, with the Northern Hemisphere favored. Most meteor showers originate from comet debris, but the Geminids originate from Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a 3.17-mile-wide body that may be a dead comet or a 'rock comet.' Asteroids are rocky, metallic masses usually in the asteroid belt, while comets are composed mostly of ice. Observers should lie flat with feet facing south and allow about 30 minutes for dark adaptation to see meteors until dawn.
Read at www.npr.org
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