Geminid Meteor Shower Monday Night

Meteors, or "shooting stars" are streaks of light that shoot across the night sky. They are pieces of debris left over from a comet or particles from solar wind. A meteor is usually no bigger than a pebble, though large ones have been recorded.

One example of this would be Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona. Scientists believe the meteorite that created the mile-wide crater was about the size of a school bus.

Meteors travel approximately 150,000 mph toward Earth. On any given night there is at least one meteor every 15 minutes.

A Geminid meteor shower is predicted for Monday night (early Tuesday morning). This shower is named after the Gemini star constellation. This means that the radiant, or central point of the shower will be the Gemini constellation. To see the most meteors, look in any direction away from the radiant.

Here are some tips for a successful meteor shower observation:

• Don't use binoculars. Try to see as much of the sky as you can through your own eyes.
• Give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness outside.
• Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and look straight up into the sky. The more you can see, the better chance you have of spotting meteors.
• Start watching just around midnight. The meteors are best seen a few hours before dawn.
• Wait until the waxing moon has set, so the meteors are not dulled by its light.
• The climax of the shower should be around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14 morning.
• Pick a direction to look facing away from the Gemini radiant. Look toward other constellations like Orion.
• Make sure you are in a dark location. Backyards are OK, but only if there is limited light pollution. Try going to Bayport Beach, Corey Beach or the Grange on Broadway Avenue in Sayville.
• Relax and have fun, maybe take some hot chocolate with you as you gaze at the beauty of space!

To read more about meteors and space, take a look at what astrophysicist and former NASA consultant Kevin Manning said at a presentation earlier this month.