The meteor shower Geminids peaked last night, although there may be a chance to see a few stragglers over the weekend. The Geminids are one of a dozen meteor showers that decorate the evening skies throughout the year. Everyones loves to watch the Perseid meteor shower in late August; Geminids take place in the cold, dark month of December but are certainly no less beautiful.

If you see a shooting star crossing the sky tonight or tomorrow night, you’ll know it is a Geminid meteor if it appears to come from the zodiacal constellation Gemini. Gemini rises in the east at about 7 p.m. and is higher at around 10 p.m. Meteors can be seen at any time and can come from any direction.

Tides are running higher and lower than normal this week due to astronomical events. The moon was in the new moon phase on Thursday and was also closest to the earth, in perigee, on Wednesday. This alignment is causing a greater gravitational pull; hence the extreme high and low tides.

A thin crescent moon sets low in the southwest this weekend. In the week ahead, the moon will have a greater presence in the western sky after sunset.