On any given night this December, if you want to see something neat in the sky, look for Gemini, which is in the east around 9 or 10 p.m.

All month, these celestial twins will travel the heavens with a very bright red Mars, which has been getting more and more brilliant over the past few months.

"This thing is gonna start getting awesome, in fact, by December 24th, it's going to be a -1.6 magnitude, which is brighter than the brightest star in the night sky," says Chris Janssen, director of the planetarium at Wausau West High School.

Not only is that a rare event, but on that night, it will also move through the sky with the full moon, and it will be almost directly overhead at midnight...so while you're up waiting for Santa Claus, take a look outside.

But you won't have to wait until Christmas Eve to see the night sky glitter.

Beginning the night of the 12th, shortly after Hanukkah ends, the festival of lights continues with the Geminid meteor shower; when meteors will seem to come from Gemini.
It's expected to produce 100 meteors a minute at its peak, which will be around the 13th and 14th. And the shower will continue for a few days.
At that time, the moon will only be a crescent, so it will be dark, and you’ll have several days in a row to watch it, so there’s a better chance that the weather will cooperate on one of those days.
This meteor shower should also be particularly bright and beautiful.
“The Geminids, I guess, based on the angle of entry, are going to be a slower-moving shower. So there’s going to be more trains, there’s going to be more fireballs, tails behind it.”
And Gemini is also part of a beautiful asterism called the “Winter Football.”
(An asterism is a configuration of stars that is not a recognized constellation.)
The Winter Football is made up of several bright stars.
You can trace out the Winter Football by facing south around 9:30 p.m., and looking to the east.
Start with Orion’s foot, a blue star called Rigel. Then, look to the east of Orion, and you’ll see Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major.
Look north from Sirius, and there’s Procyon.
From Procyon, look north and a little to the west, to find Pollux and Castor, two stars in Gemini.
Then, look further west to find Capella (in the constellation Auriga), the “top” of the football; then south to Aldebaran in Taurus, and southeast back to Rigel.
Adding to the beauty of the Winter Football is Mars, which will be inside the asterism.
“So you’re going to have this football shape of these bright white objects, and some blue, and right at the center is going to be this overbearing red diamond,” says Janssen.
So, perhaps as you’re driving around, taking in Christmas lights, stop and hop out of the car to enjoy the natural holiday light show.
If you’d like a star map to help you find constellations and planets, go to the Wausau West High School Planetarium’s Website by clicking on the link below, and then click on “Star map” on the left-hand column.