The Geminids are well known for putting on a good show & with new moon period coinciding, we can enjoy darker skies to enjoy this event. I've started to spot the odd one already so I think we may be in for a good treat. Last year my daughter was lucky enough to catch a big bright fireball! I picked the worst moment in my life to be errrr let's just say, "unavailable".
Not much I could do amidst the screams I was hearing outside..
Touchy subject to this day....
Make it an event not to miss- grab a picnic rug, some snacks and a nice glass of wine or two,
some music and enjoy! No binoculars needed- just your naked eye. The peak is expected on Dec. 14th between 2-3am, but anywhere between the 13-15th will be fine to catch them on show. The meteors will emerge from the constellation Gemini, looking north if you're in the southern hemisphere or looking east if you're in the northern hemisphere. It's an easy patch of sky to find as it will be below the famous Orion the hunter constellation- look for a very obvious big bright deep orange star called Betelgeuse and there you have the constellation Orion! In fact, you don't even have to wait for the constellation to rise at all, just look north and enjoy! For more info, click on the link supplied and if you go to page2 & click on another link titled "observing Geminids", there's a map to help you spot it (keep scrolling to get to southern hemisphere map). For a bit of fun if you want to find the radiant (the spot where the meteors emerge from), trace them back as they emerge and voila!
Note: the further south you are the further north the radiant will be, so maybe a few less meteors seen.
http://www.itwire.com/science-news/s...2?limitstart=0
The December 14th peak date of the Geminids also coincides with a special anniversary........
December 14th 2012, marks the
40th anniversary of Apollo 17.
Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon. Compared to previous Apollo missions, Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since December 14, 1972.
Pictured here is lunar module pilot, Harrison Schmidt- the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface. In the background is our delicate, beautiful blue planet around 370,000km away.
Here is a commemorative video of the Apollo Mission,
"Remembering Apollo".
So many people having an end of the world party on the 21st must be eating at at her subconscious & was probably more than the poor thing could handle. 
