Alaska News

Alaska's chances of seeing Gemenid meteor shower poor, outside Bristol Bay area

Unless you live in the Bristol Bay region, your chances of seeing the Geminid meteor shower from Alaska tonight are dismal, according to the National Weather Service's Anchorage forecast office.

Cloud cover is forecast for virtually every area of the state outside a swath of Southwest Alaska including Dillingham and King Salmon, Saturday night into Sunday morning, when the strong meteor shower will peak, said NWS forecaster Christian Cassell.

There, partly cloudy conditions with interludes of clear skies are expected to prevail, he said.

For residents of the region, it might be worth staying up: The meteor shower is predicted to be largest such displays of the year. The Gemenid shower is expected to peak early Sunday morning, according to NASA. At its height 100 to 120 meteors per hour should be visible.

Geminids are chunks of debris from what was once thought to be an asteroid, but is now known to be an extinct comet, according to NASA.

Stuck under cloud cover? Watch from a NASA telescope via livestream.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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