GEMINID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight, Dec. 13-14, as Earth passes through a stream of gravelly debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon. Dark-sky observers in both hemispheres could see as many as 120 meteors per hour during the dark hours between local midnight and sunrise on Dec. 14th. Last night, Dec. 12-13, NASA's all-sky meteor network detected 15 Geminid fireballs over the USA. That number will surely increase tonight when the shower peaks. Visit Spaceweather.com for more information.
MAGNETIC STORM ON A COMET: Earth isn't the only place with geomagnetic storms. Comets can have them, too. Such a storm appears to be underway in the sinuous blue ion tail of Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10). Observers with backyard telescopes are monitoring the event with photos highlighted on today's edition of Spaceweather.com
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