How to Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower This Weekend

It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again—and not just because of the holidays. This weekend will be the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower, which is often “the strongest meteor shower of the year,” per the American Meteor Society (AMS).

The Geminid meteor shower appears in the night sky every year around mid-December. Though the phenomenon is active from November 19 to December 24, it will peak the night between December 13 and 14—technically in the early morning of the 14, as Preston Dyches writes for NASA.

This year, however, the shower’s peak date is closely followed by December’s “Cold Moon,” the final full moon of the year, which falls on December 15. Unfortunately, this means the moon will “already be above the horizon and shining brightly as the sun sets” on the 13, Jamie Carter writes for Live Science, and it will outshine some of the meteors. “But this is still an event to be outside for around midnight.”

Some stargazers might even decide to test their luck during the week leading up to the peak to observe the sky with a dimmer moon. Here’s what to know about the upcoming shooting star display.

Tips for watching the Geminid meteor shower

Regardless of the moon’s phase, people hoping to catch the show should seek an area away from urban lights to minimize light pollution, according to NASA. Winter temperatures, of course, will require adequate clothing, and hardcore stargazers might also bring something to lie on to get the best view of the night sky, such as a sleeping bag or blanket.

“Hunting for meteors, like the rest of astronomy, is a waiting game, so it’s best to bring a comfy chair to sit on and to wrap up warm, as you could be outside for a while,” according to Royal Museums Greenwich.

Ideally, you should choose a spot where the moon is blocked out by a building or a tree. A temporary solution is to block it out with your hand—but holding your arm in that position is likely to become tiresome. If you don’t intend to lie on the cold ground, you can stand and turn your back to the moon.

“Be aware that meteors often come in spurts, interspersed with lulls,” write Deborah Byrd, Kelly Kizer Whitt and Marcy Curran for EarthSky.

Stargazers should give their eyes half an hour to adjust to the dark and refrain from looking at screens, which would disrupt the adjustment. Because the peak lasts nearly 24 hours, the shower will be visible starting around 9 or 10 p.m. local time anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, though the best moment to catch the show is during the later hours of the night and predawn. Geminid meteors can also be seen from the Southern Hemisphere, though less frequently and only in the middle of the night, per AMS.

The meteors seem to originate from the Gemini constellation—technically called their radiant—the region that also gives the meteor shower its name. However, don’t just focus on the constellation, since the meteors will occur throughout the night sky.

“In fact, it’s better to look a little to the side to see the meteors with longer tails,” according to Star Walk, an astronomy app. To get the best look at the meteors, you’ll want to take in a wide view of the sky.

A contentious celestial body 

The Geminid meteors don’t actually come from Gemini—it’s just a coincidence of perspective that makes it seem so. Instead, the meteor shower takes place when Earth passes through the debris left in the wake of 3200 Phaethon, a contentious celestial body within the scientific community because of its resemblance to both an asteroid and a comet.

In simple terms, asteroids and comets are both celestial objects in orbit around the sun, though the former are rocky and the latter are mostly icy and form an iconic tail when their elliptical orbits take them close to our star.

Currently classified as an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon orbits the sun in 1.4 Earth years. Some scientists, however, have speculated it to be a “dead comet”—a comet that lost all its volatile elements and thus no longer produces a tail. It could even be given a new classification as a “rock comet,” per NASA.

Either way, the Geminid meteor shower has been lighting up the night sky with meteors since the mid-1800s. And spotting the annual phenomenon is thrilling, experts say. “Seeing one is going to cause some excitement and some quiet screaming,” Dafydd Wyn Morgan, a Welsh astrophotographer, tells Sky News’ Jake Levison.

Margherita Bassi | READ MORE

Margherita Bassi is a freelance journalist and trilingual storyteller. Her work has appeared in publications including BBC Travel, Discover magazine, Live Science, Atlas Obscura and Hidden Compass.