Amid the twinkling holiday lights adorning homes around the world , a natural light show is set to take center stage over the weekend . The Geminid meteor shower has been visible in the night sky this week , with the best opportunities for viewing to come on Saturday night . Geminids are debris from an extinct comet called 3200 Phaethon , which was previously believed to be an asteroid , according to NASA . `` Basically it is the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun , '' NASA said on its website . The light show comes around annually in mid-December , when the Earth encounters detrius from 3200 Phaethon , `` causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini . '' Space enthusiasts consider the light show to be one of the clearest and best to watch . `` Though the moon was nearly full , the Geminid meteor shower is known for having some very bright and slow moving meteors which are visible against the star trails taken near Joshua Tree National Park , '' iReporter Jason Hullinger wrote last year after photographing the phenomenon with a time-lapse camera . The meteor shower can be seen most easily in the Northern Hemisphere in areas with dark skies , away from city lights . `` The Geminids are expected to peak just before dawn on Dec. 14 , '' NASA said , `` with a predicted peak rate of 100 to 120 meteors per hour . '' NASA is hosting a Web chat about Geminid on Saturday evening from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. CDT . Slooh.com will present live visual and audio feeds of the meteor shower Saturday night .
The Geminid meteor shower will be most visible in the night sky over the weekend . Geminids are debris from an extinct comet called 3200 Phaethon . The meteor shower can be seen more easily from a dark area , away from city lights .