Overview
- Peak activity is forecast overnight Saturday, December 13, into early Sunday, with the shower active through mid-December.
- A waning crescent rises around 2 a.m., leaving dark evening hours that could produce roughly 100–120 meteors per hour under very dark skies.
- Best viewing comes from rural, cloud-free locations in the Northern Hemisphere; lie back, avoid screens, and allow 15–30 minutes for night vision.
- The meteors appear to radiate from Gemini and are often bright and multicolored, moving more slowly than many comet-derived showers.
- Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids come from rocky asteroid 3200 Phaethon, whose debris reliably fuels one of the year’s strongest displays.