BALTIMORE — Wednesday and Thursday we have a great opportunity to see a meteor!
The Geminid meteor shower is set to peak over the next two days and the viewing conditions couldn't be better. This meteor shower is reliably the best of the whole year. Depending on how far away you can get from light pollution you will be able to see dozens of meteors an hour! You will see reports of higher numbers, but that is perfect conditions including a very dark sky which will be hard to get.
Head out at 10 pm or later (after midnight is best). Get as far away from city lights as you can. Let your eyes adjust to the dark. This mean turning off the lights in the car and avoid using your cell phone. Look up and relax your eyes. Let you peripherals do the work to catch a quick streak of light.
If you are looking for a good place, use this map which shows light pollution in our area.
Try to get into the yellows, greens, and blues for the best view. Anything near the red/white colors will reduce the number of shooting stars you can see.
This year is great because we are just days after a new moon. That means we won't have to worry about moonlight washing out some of the fainter meteors.
The forecast calls for clear skies both nights! It will be very cold though. Temperatures drop back into the 20s so be sure to layer up!
This meteor shower is named from the constellation it radiates from, Gemini!
