One of the Best Meteor Showers of the Year Comes Friday and Saturday

The Geminid meteor showers are always great, partly because the December skies are clearer than the rest of the year.

Here's what you need to know from EarthSky.org 

Radiating from near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins, the Geminid meteor shower is one of the finest meteors showers visible in either the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere. 

The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, with perhaps 50 to 100 meteors per hour visible at the peak. 

Plus Geminid meteors are often bright, so, if there’s a bright moon, many meteors may be able to overcome the harsh moonlight. 

These meteors are often as good in the evening as in the hours between midnight and dawn. 

In 2013, a bright waxing gibbous moon will interfere with the Geminids throughout most of the peak night. 

Your best bet is to watch on the mornings of December 13 and 14, from moonset until dawn.