Geminids: How to see one of the best meteor showers of the year this December

City dwellers who've never seen the night sky away from the glow of streetlights don't know what they're missing.

This December, that means missing one of the year's best annual meteor showers.

The Geminid meteor shower, peaking the evening of Dec. 13 and early morning of Dec. 14, is one of the most reliable meteor showers of the year, with up to 120 meteors per hour streaking through the night sky.

"You can count on them being good year after year, more so than other showers," said Rich Talcott, a senior editor with Astronomy magazine.

The shower is caused by the Earth passing through dust particles left behind by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. As the object orbits the sun, it ejects particles. Because Phaethon has left behind basically all the particles it can, Talcott said, its debris path is fairly consistent and Earth can count on a great show when we pass through the debris field every year.

"The one down thing is that it occurs in mid-December, so not only is it cold then, but the weather is also cloudy this time of year," Talcott said, noting that if skies are cloudless, however, "you can really get crystal-clear nights."

If skies don't cooperate to see the show the morning of Dec. 14, there's still hope.

"The day before and after, you usually get about half as many meteors as you do on the peak night," Talcott said.

The shower is expected to peak between midnight and 4 a.m., when Gemini, the constellation the meteors appear to originate from, is highest in the sky.

"When it's highest in the sky, more of the meteors are visible than they would be at other times," Talcott said.

Seeing the most meteors depends on getting away from city lights, which is getting harder.

According to a study published in Science Advances in November, artificially lit areas across the globe increased 2.2% per year from 2012 to 2016.

Some 99% of people in the U.S. live in an area with skyglow, a brightening of the night sky, according to the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, published in Science Advances in 2016.

All of that artificial light at night means we see less of the natural kind — stars.

And while northern Wisconsin offers the darkest night skies in the state, you don't necessarily have to go that far to see the Geminids, Talcott said.

"Go as far from a city as you can get, reasonably, and you want to avoid places where there's bright streetlights nearby," he said. "A field is a good spot to watch, because then you get an almost horizon-to-horizon view."

Talcott recommends sitting back to take in as much of the sky as possible, gazing about halfway up and scanning the sky. You're going to miss some, of course, but at a rate of 2 meteors per minute, your chances of seeing at least a few are high.

"You don’t want to focus on one spot in the sky, and you certainly don’t want to focus on the spot that they come from," he said.

If you want to turn your Geminid-viewing party into a trip, there are some prime stargazing spots across the state.

Newport State Park is Wisconsin's only Dark Sky Park, a designation from the International Dark-Sky Association given to lands "possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights."

More:Newport State Park designated as Wisconsin's first 'dark sky' park

The park is on Door County's quieter eastern shore, near the northern tip of the peninsula far from city and even small-town lights.

Book one of the park's walk-in campsites to catch the show; otherwise plan for a visit before the park closes at 11 p.m.

Wisconsin's Northwoods are one of the best stargazing spots in the state, with no major cities and acres of public land. Find an open area without a lot of tree cover. Frozen lakes are a good option, although with our mild November that might not be an option this year. Try the Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters Area, also known as the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. Its eastern fifth near Mercer is a voluntary quiet area, with campsites scattered on islands and the shore in the Boundary Waters-like wilderness.

Wildcat Mountain State Park is situated in a dark-night-sky pocket in Wisconsin's Driftless Region near Ontario. The park has four walk-in campsites open in the winter. Watch the show from one of the park's overlooks, with views of the Kickapoo River Valley.

More:A Driftless Region county is aiming to be a new frontier in protecting Wisconsin's darkest skies

For something closer to home, try Harrington Beach State Park, in Belgium about 30 miles north of Milwaukee. Beaches may be good for sun soaking, but they're also good for stargazing. Harrington Beach also has an observatory — not necessary for seeing the Geminids, but a sign this is a good spot for stargazing.

The northern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest is another somewhat dark spot in southeastern Wisconsin. Mauthe Lake has campsites open in the winter and a lake that provides an expanse of tree-free views.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Geminid meteor shower 2022: How to see December's display of shooting stars