*Special Christmas Offer* <http://www.astronomy.ie/gift/index.html> * Events* <http://www.astronomy.ie/events/index.html>* **DVDs*<http://www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html> * **Shop* <http://www.astronomy.ie/shop.html> ** *The Biggest And Most Exciting Meteor Shower Of The Year! * * * *Geminids This Weekend!* This weekend, Ireland will have the best display of meteors, or 'shooting stars' to be seen this year. Meteor showers are caused by clouds of dust and debris floating around in space, usually remnants of larger celestial bodies such as comets. When the Earth passes through a region containing large amounts of this debris, our planet's gravity pulls in these fragments (known as meteoroids) which glow very brightly as they burn up upon entering the atmosphere, appearing as streaks known as meteors. Geminid meteors are in fact tiny pieces of an unusual comet-like asteroid. Each year our planet intersects the stream of debris which is left behind by this asteroid. The Geminids have been known to produce sensational fireballs which can light up the entire night sky and observers this weekend can expect to see up to 150 meteors per hour in particularly dark areas when the shower reaches its peak. The Geminids Meteor Shower will be at its best on Saturday and Sunday nights, December 12 and 13 respectively, and into the early morning of Monday, December 14. We are urging everyone to conduct their own meteor count over the weekend as Saturday and Sunday will be the prime nights for meteor observing. Click HERE <http://www.astronomy.ie/geminids.html> for our observing tips. Remember to wrap up warm when going out to observe this weekend, and don't forget to email what you see to observe@astronomy.ie - we will do our best to include your reports in forthcoming issues of the magazine. ** ** *For more information and observing tips you can visit out webpage devoted to the Geminids **HERE* <http://www.astronomy.ie/meteor.html>*. Alternatively, see the Sky Diary section of the December issue of '**Astronomy & Space* <http://www.astronomy.ie/magazine.html>*' magazine.* *Astronomy Ireland <http://www.astronomy.ie/>* *The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie* ** *( subscribe / unsubscribe<http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/mailman/listinfo/astronomy> )* ** *Our Online Telescope Shop <http://www.astronomy.ie/shop.html>*