Over 100 Meteors/Hour to Be Visible Over Colorado in December

Kids will be searching the skies over Colorado for signs of Santa in December, and we all will be looking to see signs of the Geminid meteor shower.

Start making plans on where you want to be in Colorado to best able to see the shower and make a wish on at least one of those "falling stars." They call it the "best meteor shower of the year," for good reason.

Depending upon where you are, out in rural areas or more within the suburbs, you could be seeing a shooting star every minute or every other minute, when the Geminid shower is at its peak. They are estimating that the shower could bring upwards of 120 meteors an hour to Earth.

WHAT IS A METEOR SHOWER?

When a meteor shower happens, the cosmos rains down debris from comets that pass by Earth; sometimes they're from asteroids. Either way, it's a great show. With this Geminid shower, the debris is coming from an asteroid: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon.

RELATED: A 'JOHN WAYNE' SALOON WAS SHUT DOWN AT NORAD

WHEN CAN COLORDANS EXPECT THE GEMINID SHOWER?

Sky & Telescope says the shower will be at its peak in the middle of the day, at around Noon, MST, on Thursday, December 14, 20243, so that's a bummer; but the pre-dawn hours of December 14 will be our best viewing.

Heading out late (after 10 p.m.) on December 13 will also give us a fairly good shot at seeing the show.

2023's SHOW WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST BECAUSE OF THE MOON

Actually, it's because when this year's Geminid shower happens, there won't be any moon to interfere with our viewing, since the new moon will happen on December 12.

WHERE WILL THE GEMINID SHOWER BE IN THE SKY

We're being told to look to the northeast portion of the Colorado sky; so get to a place that's as away from light as you can get, then look towards Nebraska, up in the sky.