No special equipment needed: You can watch tonight’s meteor shower from home

It’s lit. Or, at least, the sky will be.

An annual meteor shower, Geminid meteors will light up the skies Wednesday night, according to NASA. The Geminids are active every Decemberand appear close to the constellation Gemini. The best views will be in the Northern Hemisphere.

But there’s no need to travel far to see the meteors jet across the night sky, said Jonathan Sabin, president of the Local Group of Deep Sky Observers (LGDSO) in the Sarasota and Bradenton area. Staying in the backyard and looking up toward the sky is enough. Because of that, LGDSO won’t be hosting a public watch event.

“This is the best meteor shower this year,” Sabin said. “I would recommend to people that, even if they don’t leave their neighborhood, that they go to a part of their backyard that blocks light.”

Any bright light interferes with the view, so it’s best to go to a dark area where there is as much of the sky visible as possible and have patience, he said. A telescope, binoculars or other viewing devices aren’t necessary, Sabin added. Just your own two eyes.

Bill Cooke, with NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, said rates will be around one meteor per minute under good conditions.

But Sabin cautions to keep expectations in check, and the best you can hope for is about half that.

“If we do get 60 per hour, that would be great, but that doesn’t mean that every minute there’s another one. ... Usually what it means is you’ll see nothing for five, six, seven or eight minutes. Then, all of a sudden, you’ll see a few then nothing for a few minutes,” Sabin said.

The show should peak around 2 a.m., though the Gemini constellation is rising in local skies around 7:30 p.m. in the east-northeast, Sabin said. From the time the constellation rises, the view will continue to get better and better, especially around midnight, he added.

For those who won’t stay up that late, don’t fret. The sky should be clear enough Wednesday night that meteors will be visible before then.

The National Weather Service indicates the sky will be mostly clear for the meteor shower Wednesday night with a temperature near 57. Some light wind is possible after midnight.

But if you can’t see, don’t worry. NASA will live stream the Geminid shower, according to FOX 13.

Even though the constellation rises in the east northeast, Sabin noted that viewers should be able to see meteors no matter what direction you’re facing.

“Even if you’re facing west, if you see a meteor, and if it’s a Geminid meteor, you’ll see it will trace all the way back from east-northeast. It may not come from there but even those with short tail, if you follow or extend trail it will extend back (to Gemini),” Sabin said.

That being said, it can be difficult to predict exactly where in the sky meteors will be seen. Sabin likens it to a thunderstorm in that meteorologists can predict when a storm will happen, but not exactly where lightning will strike before it hits.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "No special equipment needed: You can watch tonight’s meteor shower from home."