Be showered with celestial treats

As Australia gears up for the Christmas break, our warm summer evenings make the night sky come alive.

And you don’t need to be a professional astronomer, or even have a telescope, to catch all of these celestial treats.

This summer in particular will feature a wide variety of astronomical events that can be seen from your own backyard.

The most consistent meteor shower of the year, the Geminids,'''' starts this weekend. The shower is centred in the north-east around 11pm and is visible until dawn. We can usually expect around 20 meteors an hour.

If you can’t travel to a dark spot, find a shed or part of the house that gives some shading from the glare. The best time to view them will be 2am-3am. Grab a hot cuppa and just sit and wait. It’ll happen.

This summer will also be an excellent opportunity for stargazers to go planet spotting.

Mercury can be found low in the south-west at sunset.

Venus is eye-catching in the western sky after sunset.

By the end of the month, Mars will have drifted towards Venus and will sit just above and to the right. Mars is high in the west at sunset and Jupiter can be seen in the eastern sky before sunrise, paired up with the bright star Spica. Saturn'''''' is too close to the sun to be seen this month. It returns to the morning sky next in January.

It might surprise you to know that up until the late 1700s we only knew of these six planets in the solar system.

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto hadn’t even been thought of.

The term “planet” comes from the Greek word for wanderer.

Many ancient people thought the planets were gods, so they gave them the names of their gods.

All the planets, except Earth have names of Roman deities. For instance, Mercury is the winged messenger of the gods, Mars is the god of war and because of its virginal white light, Venus was named after the Goddess of Love.

So, I hear you say, what’s Earth’s real name?

Simple, it’s Terra, as in Terra Firma, and did you know the moon has a proper name too?

It’s called Luna.

Are you looking for a last-minute gift idea? What about the gift of space? It’s the latest fad and its appeal has been out of this world.

Extraterrestrial real estate is land on other planets or moons and asteroids that is sold either through organisations or by individuals.

You can now become a lunar land owner by buying one acre of land on the moon.

The “Lunar Embassy” has been selling lunar acreage since 1980, and doing it legally.

More than 250 celebrities, more than 30 past and present members of NASA, two former US presidents, and millions of everyday people from around the world are lunar land owners.

What greater gift can you think of than giving someone an acre of the moon.

It’s an excellent idea and a great conversation starter.

One acre, complete with a land deed, map and bill of rights will set you back a mere $29.95 on the internet — as long as you use a credit card of course.

Fancy a piece of Mars instead?

No problem, head on over to buyplanetmars.com and pick out your own lot number.

This online company provides the opportunity to get in before the rush and own a piece of Martian land.