arch 1996, followed by Comet
  Hale-Bopp, which became spectacularly bright in April 1997.
</p>
<p>
  Now, 23 years later, as an adult living in a severely light-polluted
  city, the recent Geminids meteor shower was rather disappointing.
  After midnight, my wife and I stepped outside to watch it.  Under a
  truly dark sky, we could have seen two to four meteors streaking
  across the sky every minute.  But instead, the entire sky glowed
  orange, and we managed to spot only one or two meteors every five t