THOMASVILLE- Bring a blanket or a chair and join astronomer and author Randy Rhea at Pebble Hill Plantation on Thursday, December 13th to watch the night sky for the Geminid Meteor Shower. This program is free to the public and all ages are welcome.

“Looking up on an average night, you’ll see about one falling star an hour,” said Rhea. “But, on this night, we should see at least 60 each hour and since city lights vanquish the beauty, you are invited to join us at Pebble Hill Plantation to enjoy the show.”

“Of course, falling stars are not stars at all, but bits of rock and iron,” Rhea explained. “Most are the size of grains of sand to the size of pecans. Comets leave a path strewn with debris,” he explained. “As the Earth orbits the Sun, when our path travels through this debris, the quantity of meteors increases, and it’s called a ‘shower’.”

“The word ‘shower’ is a bit of an exaggeration,” Rhea said. “The sky doesn’t actually fall, but the observable number of meteors increases, causing the ‘shower’.”

Unlike a majority of the meteor showers, the Geminids are the product of an asteroid. The Geminids are associated with the asteroid Phaethon and originate in the direction of the constellation Gemini. Gemini is located northeast of the constellation Orion and is between the Taurus and Cancer constellations.

“A bright moon would spoil the show, but this year, the moon sets early and also adorning the night sky will be Jupiter, Saturn, and some other beautiful stars and constellations,” Rhea added. “It is all a perfect setup for a fun night under the stars.”

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the heavens with an expert.

Randy Rhea is the author of the book Astronomy is Heavenly. He graduated with honors from the University of Illinois with a degree in electrical engineer and holds a masters in electrical engineering from Arizona State University. His master’s thesis was the construction of an earth station that monitored Apollo 16 & 17 Unified S-Band signals from the moon. He worked at the Boeing Company, Goodyear Aerospace, and at Scientific-Atlanta where he was named Principal Engineer in 1985.

The free program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the open field adjacent to the Visitors Center parking lot at Pebble Hill. “Bring a blanket and lie in the grass for the best viewing,” said Rhea, “or bring a chair and enjoy the beautiful night with us.”

For more information visit pebblehill.com or call 229-226-2344.