Major Meteor Shower to Be Visible from New York

There's nothing quite like sitting outside on a warm evening and staring up at the stars. I've been fascinated with the night sky for as long as I can remember.

There were many summer nights that my cousins and I would camp out and spend part of the evening identifying some of the planets, watching for shooting stars, and hoping we'd catch a glimpse of a UFO flying by. I never did see any alien spacecraft, though.

When I hear of any nighttime spectacular like a motor shower, I get excited. And of course, there is no shortage of celestial shows to observe in our part of the world.

Soon, another show will be lighting up the nighttime skies above us. The Geminid Meteor Shower has been dubbed the best meteor show of 2024, according to Space.com.

This meteor shower began on Nov. 19th and will continue through Dec. 24th. The Geminid Shower will peak on December 13th and 14th, so that's the best time to witness the show at its best.

The American Meteor Society notes that those days "will coincide with an approximately 90% illuminated Waxing Gibbous moon, with the full moon occurring just a couple of days later on Dec. 15th."

When moonlight is not interfering with the meteor show, stargazers should enjoy seeing up to 150 meteors per hour at peak times according to the American Meteor Society.

By the way, Space.com says that the Geminid meteor shower is not a comet. it is associated with the asteroid Phaethon, a blue rock that acts like a comet.

Enjoy the show!