The Geminid meteor shower will appear to viewers on Earth to be
coming from the constellation Gemini. It will be at its best
after dark on Thursday, December 13, and before dawn on Friday,
December 14. / StarDate.org, the MacDonald Observatory Eat your
hearts out, Christmas lights. Thursday night will see a real
celestial show as the Geminid meteor shower, one of the two
biggest of the year, sprinkles the night sky with falling stars.
And a Russian astronomer is predicting a whole new meteor shower
might happen at the same time, giving sky-watchers a double dose
of thrills. "The Geminids are one of the best performers among
the meteor showers of the year," says Mark Hammergren, an
astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. As many as 100
shooting stars an hour are possible. The show should start just
after sunset local time across North America and continue until
dawn. "Meteors will appear in every part of the sky," says Alan
MacRobert, a senior editor with Sky & Telescope magazine. The
shower is named f