Overall this year has been a tough one for viewing meteor showers. The moon has been full or nearly full for the best meteor showers, washing out all but the brightest meteors or so called shooting stars. Viewing the Perseid meteor shower this past August was pretty much shut down by one of the biggest full moon of the year.

Next weekend an equally great meteor shower, the Geminids, will light up our Everett night skies but unfortunately so will a waning full moon. It won’t be quite as bad as the Perseids because the moon won’t be rising until around midnight. You may see some extra meteors in the night sky this coming week courtesy of the Geminids, but the peak of the shower will take place this coming Saturday night and Sunday morning, Dec. 13 and 14, and the following night, Dec. 14 and 15.

In the dark countryside you may see over 50 meteors per hour or possibly more. The viewing should be great because the moon will be rising close to sunrise leaving the night skies extra dark. The meteors will seem to originate from the general direction of the bright constellation Gemini the Twins that will be on the rise after 8 p.m. in the northeastern sky. That’s why this shower is called the Geminids because the constellation Gemini is considered the radiant.

Some may say you should look in the eastern sky in the evening hours. That’s a big mistake because meteors in any meteor shower can be found in all directions of the celestial dome. Their trails or tails in the Geminids will point back in the general direction of the constellation Gemini. So the best advice I can give you is to lie back on a reclining lawn chair and roll your eyes all around the entire sky. Meteor shower watching is great activity for families and groups because with more eyes in the sky you’re bound to collectively see a lot more meteors.

Most meteor showers occur when the Earth in its orbit around the sun crosses a trail of debris left behind by a comet. Most of this debris is minute, varying in size from micro grains of dust to small gravel-like pebbles. They slam into our atmosphere at speeds of up to 44 miles per second and burn up due to air friction. They also ionize the corridor of the atmosphere they pass through, causing most of the light we see when we wish upon a falling star.

The Geminid meteor shower is unique because it’s not caused by comet debris but by an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon that has a highly elliptical 524 day orbit around the sun. As it rips along its orbital path it leaves a trail of dust and small pebbles in its wake. Asteroids are usually thought of as solid rocks flying around in space but many of them consist of concentrated piles of dust that leave a mess everywhere they travel. So when you’re viewing the Geminid meteor shower you can accurately claim that the Earth is getting hit by asteroid debris.

For this coming weekend Geminids I think you’re better off looking from about 10 p.m. to a little after midnight. From about midnight to morning twilight the waning full moon will be whitewashing the night sky, obscuring all but the brightest meteors.

While you’re out there late at night this weekend catching the Geminid show you’ll also get to enjoy the rise of great winter constellations in the eastern heavens like Orion and his posse of bright stars and constellations that surround him including the constellation Gemini. Along with those bright shiners in the east, the very bright planet Jupiter will be among them rising high enough after approximately 11 p.m.

Presently it’s just over 450 million miles away and without a doubt it’ll be the brightest starlight object in the entire late night sky this weekend. It’s also the largest planet in our solar system and through even a small telescope you can see Jupiter’s cloud bands and up to four of its moons as they orbit the big planet. Just make sure your telescope and all the eyepieces you use sit outside for a good half hour before you start viewing Jupiter so the optics and in the scope can acclimate to the colder temperatures. Also the higher Jupiter is in the sky the clearer you’ll see it as it rises above the thicker layer of Earth’s atmosphere near the horizon.

Enjoy Jupiter and the Geminids.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications available at bookstores at http://www.adventurepublications.net.