SkyRef / Meteor showers

The Geminids meteor shower

Peaks 12/14 at up to 150 per hour under ideal conditions. Not currently active.

The essentials

Peak12/14
Active12/04–12/17
Peak rate (ZHR)150/hr
Speed35 km/s
Radiant RA7.5h
Radiant Dec+33°

Status right now: Not currently active.

What to expect

The richest shower of the year, and good all night rather than only before dawn.

The Geminids come from asteroid 3200 Phaethon, and enter the atmosphere at about 35 kilometres per second. That is a middling speed, producing the classic quick streak most people picture.

About that ZHR number

The quoted rate of 150 per hour is the zenithal hourly rate — the count you would get with the radiant directly overhead, under a perfectly dark sky, with no moon. Nobody's actual conditions match that. Real counts are typically a third to a half of the headline figure, and considerably less with a bright moon or from a town.

SkyRef scales the estimate by the real altitude of the radiant from your location and tells you when the moon is going to ruin it, rather than repeating a number you will never see.

How to watch

Do not use a telescope or binoculars — meteors appear all over the sky and you want the widest possible view. Lie back, look roughly halfway up, and give your eyes twenty minutes to adapt. Face away from the moon if it is up. Patience matters more than equipment.

Check tonight's conditions

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