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"Stargazers won't be disappointed with the radiant Geminid meteor shower that's expected to light up the night skies in mid-December. To add to this celestial event, skywatchers will have another rare treat with a \"double planet\" sighting on Dec. 21. Hundreds of shooting stars will illuminate the horizon in a spectacular Geminid meteor shower, which will be active for the next couple weeks through Dec. 17, according to NASA.com. Expect the meteor shower to peak around mid-Sunday, Dec. 13 through the early morning of Dec. 14. \"It will be the best meteor shower of 2020, no question about it,\" NASA's Meteroid Environment Office Lead Bill Cooke told Space.com's Doris Elin Urrutia. The Geminid meteor shower typically puts on a dazzling display and is comprised of debris coming from Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, according to Space. com. Although the Geminids are somewhat difficult to see due to their speed at 22 miles per second, the moonlight is expected to be dim at 1 percent full, so you may be able to catch some of it, according to the American Meteor Society. \"Meteor showers are an investment [of time]! Preparation is key to seeing them,\" Cooke told Space.com. \"But it's cheap - just using your eyes will do.\" No telescope or binoculars are necessary, he said. \"it's the simplest form of astronomy there is.\" Cooke said that if you wish to watch the display, give your eyes about 30 to 45 minutes to adapt to the dark (away from your cell phones). \"You know, that's something about meteor observing: You let your eyes adapt to the dark, and what kills [meteor viewing for] most people nowadays is that they'll look at their phones, and that bright screen just totally trashes your night vision,\" Cooke said. A \"Christmas star\" also will illuminate night skies on the December solstice on Dec. 21 in a rare \"double planet event.\"  According to Accuweather's Brian Lada, Jupiter and Saturn will closely approach each other in rare conjunction, giving it the effect of looking like one bright star.  This double planet event hasn't been seen since the Middle Ages in the year, 1226. \"You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky,\" Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan told Forbes."
<https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/December-meteor-shower-planet-Christmas-Star-15779928.php>