(this is from a the yahoo group ‘meteor showers’)
The annual Geminid meteor shower will peak on the night of December
13th/14th. This shower is often one of the better showers since as
many as 100 meteors per hour may be seen. While this certainly
doesn’t rival the Leonids in recent years, this is still a very high
rate for a regular meteor shower. This is an unusual shower in that
the source of the shower is not believed to be a comet, but rather
from an object known as 3200 Phaethon. This object is currently
classified as an asteroid, but some scientists believe that it might
be an extinct comet with a thick crust of interplanetary dust.
Another thing that makes the Geminids unusual is that one doesn’t
have to wait until after midnight to catch this shower. The radiant
rises early and meteors can be seen around 10:00 PM local time, but
the best view will still be after midnight local time. This shower
also boasts a broad maximum, lasting nearly one whole day, so no
matter where you live, you stand a decent chance of catching sight of
some Geminids. The actual peak will occur around 04:00 UTC on the
14th (6:40 PM EST, 5:40 CST, 4:40 MST, 3:40 PM PST on the 13th).
Unfortunately, the 74% illuminiated Moon rises in the evening and
will offer considerable interference for the Geminids this year.
Next shower: The Ursids peak on December 22/23
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