Brrrr!!!!!!!!  If you can stay up past midnight tonight and tomorrow, you may enjoy the treat of hundreds of meteors falling before your very eyes.

The Geminids appear to emanate from the constellation of Gemini, but evidently originate from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon and has been streaming for over 1,000 years, according to astronomers.

There are some fascinating connections here, because Phaethon was the name of the son of the Sun god Helios in Greek mythology.  He was killed by a thunderbolt from Zeus when he drove the solar chariot recklessly, threatening to burn up the earth.  In Ovid’s version of the story: “”…consider what impetuous force Turns stars and planets in a diff’rent course. I steer against their motions; nor am I Born back by all the current of the skye. But how cou’d you resist the orbs that roul In adverse whirls, and stem the rapid pole?”

According to Aristotle’s “Meteorology,” “Aristotle says, “…the stars…fell from heaven at the time of Phaethon’s downfall.”

In any case, be sure to bundle up if you attempt to view this sky show!  More tips to observe the meteor shower can be found here.