12/15/2018 | Elephant Rocks State Park | Belleview, MO
This event has been rescheduled due to bad weather. The event date is now 12/15/2018.
To mark this year’s most spectacular meteor shower, Elephant Rocks State Park will be open to the public for a rare after dark event. Park staff will be available to direct you to the best and safest areas to view the shower. So if you like stargazing or light shows and are able to brave the cold, this is your event. Come out and create a lifetime memory at Elephant Rocks State Park.
Please remember it is December and dress for very cold winter conditions. It is often colder on the rocks than the average local temperature, so even if it is a mild night, you can become chilled sitting for long periods in the park. Please remember this is a carry in, carry out park and bring in only what you will be able to carry out when you leave. Trash receptacles are provided at the parking lot of the park. Please be respectful of other visitors experience and avoid excessive use of artificial lights and excessive noise during the event. No tents or other invasive camping equipment, such as propane heaters, lanterns, etc. will be allowed, but you can bring portable chairs and blankets to keep warm. Absolutely no campfires will be allowed.
- This meteor shower was first reported in 1833 by a riverboat captain traveling on the Mississippi River.
- Geminids meteor shower happens every year in December.
- It is dust from an asteroid not a comet the asteroid is named 3200 Phaethon.
- The asteroid orbits the sun every 1.4 years and leaves a trail of dust the earth passes through every December.
- The shower gets brighter every year as Jupiter’s gravity pulls the dust closer to the Earth.
- This year, the peak view date is the night of Friday, Dec. 14, 2018.
- The moon will set around midnight on the 14th, so the peak time to view is 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. but can be seen as early as 9 p.m. locally.
- Best viewing is high in the southern sky near the constellation Gemini.
- This shower can be viewed with the naked eye and no telescopes or binoculars are needed, but you can bring yours if you want.