Catch the Geminid meteor shower Wednesday night

The Geminid meteor shower began November 19 and will last until December 24, peaking on December 14th. The best conditions for viewing in the Northland are the night of Wednesday, December 13th.

Geminids are known to be some of the best and brightest of the year, and this year is expected to be a particularly good one thanks to convenient timing in the lunar cycle.

December 12 was a new moon, so we’ll have a thin waxing crescent on Wednesday, and an early moon of4:37 pm for Duluth will mean we won’t have to worry about the moon brightening the sky.

The meteors radiate from near the constellation Gemini. Visibility could begin in the evening and is expected to peak around 2 am looking to the northeast. As many as 120 meteors per hour may be seen.

Fortunately, cloud cover isn’t expected to be much of an issue. Mostly clear to partly cloudy skies are forecast for Wednesday night.