Geminid Meteor shower peaks Dec 14

Mark your calendar: The best meteor shower of 2007 peaks on Friday, December 14th.
"It's the Geminid meteor shower," says NASA astronomer Bill Cooke of the Marshall Space Flight Center. "Start watching on Thursday evening, Dec. 13th, around 10 pm local time," he advises. "At first you might not see very many meteors—but be patient. The show really heats up after midnight and by dawn on Friday, Dec. 14th, there could be dozens of bright meteors per hour streaking across the sky."

Right: A Geminid meteor in 2006 photographed by Christopher Colley of Lombard, Illinois. [Larger image]

The Geminids are not ordinary meteors. While most meteor showers come from comets, Geminids come from an asteroid—a near-Earth object named 3200 Phaethon.

More info at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/03dec_asteroidshower.htm?list137366