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The waning crescent moon will leave us with dark skies for this show. Under a dark sky like this one, you might catch as many as 120 meteors per hour. Since the radiant rises in mid-evening, you can watch for Geminids all night on December 13-14. The days before and after might be good as well. Also keep an eye out for Jupiter shining strong. The bold, bright white and slow moving Geminids give us one of the Northern Hemisphere's best showers. They're also visible, at lower rates, from the Southern Hemisphere. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids. Most meteor showers are the result of us passing though comet trails. These meteors are the debris left behind by an *asteroid* known as 3200 Phaethon, discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

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Dark skies! Watch for Ursids on the evening of December 21st through dawn. The Ursids is a minor meteor shower producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790. The shower runs annually from December 17-25. It peaks this year on the the night of the 21st and morning of the 22nd. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

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Jupiter will be at opposition -- its nearest point to Earth this year, making it exceptionally bright and visible throughout the entire night. This event offers the optimal opportunity to observe and photograph Jupiter, along with its moons. With a medium-sized telescope, you can view details in Jupiter's cloud bands. Using a good pair of binoculars, you should be able to spot the four largest moons of Jupiter, known as the Galilean moons (discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610), appearing as distinct bright spots on either side of the planet. Beyond these, astronomers have discovered 76 more Jovain moons since Galileo's time. Fun fact: Jupiter emits more heat than it receives from the Sun! Jupiter generates its own heat as a result of perpetually (and slowly) shrinking and compressing, converting gravitational potential energy into thermal energy.

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