It looks pretty dismal out there right now. But my Clear Sky Clock alarm just went off, promising clear skies over Baltimore by 9 p.m. tonight, and a chance to see some of the 2007 Geminid meteor shower.

The Geminids constitute one of the best showers of the year. It would be THE best if it weren't typically so cold out - as many as 120 meteors per hour under dark skies. If you miss them tonight, try it again tomorrow. The peak actually falls around noon tomorrow, so either night will work.

The meteors in this shower appear to radiate from the constellation Gemini, which rises in the east in the early evening. They tend to be as bright as the Big Dipper stars, and medium-speed. The best times to look are between midnight and dawn, but if you can't stay up, give it a shot before you turn in tonight.

The unusual thing about this shower is that the dust and pebbles that create the "shooting stars" as they zip into the atmosphere, heat up, glow and vaporize, are not the debris from a passing icy, dusty comet, as is true of most meteor showers.

The Geminids are associated with a rocky asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, which just passed within about 11 million miles of Earth on Monday. That's relatively close as these things go. Some scientists think the asteroid has been pummeled by other space rocks, creating the dusty debris in its path around the sun. Others think it may not be an asteroid at all, but the husk of an expired comet, one that has lost its ice and has been reduced to a dusty nucleus.

While you're out there, don't forget to admire Mars, which is nearing opposition and its closest approach (55 million miles) and brightest appearance in the last 26 months. It's gleaming brilliantly in the northeast after sunset, the reddest, brightest star-like object in that part of the sky. We'll do more here on Mars next week.