Turlock residents can observe a remarkable space event Saturday by simply pointing their eyes skyward for the annual Geminid meteor shower.
NASA is predicting between 100 and 120 meteors per hour on Saturday night.
The Geminid is a meteor shower that happens every December since the first recorded sightings in the mid 1800s.
Fortunately the major rain storm that plagued Turlock has passed and Saturday night there should be limited cloud cover over Turlock.
The Geminid is named so because it appears to originate from the constellation Gemini, however the meteor shower actually comes from a small asteroid called 3200 Phaethon. NASA suspects the asteroid was involved in a collision that resulted in a rocky, meteor filled trail that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere as the orbits intersect every December.
This year’s Geminid is actually visible until Dec. 17, but the peak visibility will be Saturday night into Sunday morning. To best view the meteors get away from city lights but even in the city, meteors should make for a good show.
