EarthSky.org

It's been a pretty good couple of months for star-gazing in the Rockford area. We just finished up with the Geminid Meteor Showers last week, now we move on to what's sometimes referred to as The Christmas Comet.

The Geminids are usually one of the best meteor showers of the year, capable of producing 150 or more meteors per hour at a dark site. Another really cool aspect is that the meteors are often bright and colorful.

The Leonid Meteor Shower going on right now should offer up clear-sky meteor rates of about 10 to 15 shooting stars per hour, but has been known to put on a spectacular show of up to (and over) 1000 shooting stars per hour.