{"id":1461,"date":"2023-12-03T00:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T00:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/main_spa1\/meteor\/?page_id=1461"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:23:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T12:23:03","slug":"geminids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/meteor\/geminids\/","title":{"rendered":"Geminids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geminids<\/strong> – the best meteor shower of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main Activity Dates<\/td>Dec 7-16<\/td><\/tr>
Peak Dates<\/td>Dec 14<\/td><\/tr>
Peak ZHR<\/td>100 – 120<\/td><\/tr>
Best Observed Around<\/td>Early morning of Dec 15<\/td><\/tr>
Visibility<\/td>Visible all night<\/td><\/tr>
Affected by Moonlight<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shower details<\/strong> – Radiant<\/a>:<\/strong> 07:28 +32.2\u00b0 – ZHR<\/a>:<\/strong> 150 – Velocity:<\/strong> medium – 35km\/sec – Parent Object:<\/strong> 3200 Phaethon (asteroid)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One shower dominates meteor observing in December and that is the Geminids<\/strong> <\/strong>which, at their peak, produce higher observed rates than do the Perseids of August. <\/strong> Most of the Geminid activity occurs between Dec 7 and Dec 16, although some outliers can be detected as early as Dec 4 and as late as Dec 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observing the Geminids does however pose the challenges of enduring the cold December nights and of a (usually) lower chance of clear skies than for the Perseids. The meteor section director avoids the cold by using video cameras to watch for him and analysing the data in the warm!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some ways the Geminids are like the Perseids, being rich in bright meteors<\/strong>. In other ways they are different, with very few Geminids leaving persistent trains, <\/strong>a consequence of the fact that the Geminids are more robust particles derived from asteroid 3200 Phaethon whereas the Perseids are more fragile icy material derived from comet Swift-Tuttle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Geminid rates<\/strong> can be seen for around two nights around their peak, but drop away very quickly after the maximum. The Geminids are observable throughout the night, with the best observed rates usually between 01h and 03h UT, when the radiant is highest in the sky. The peak on the 14th is quite broad, and so observed rates should be good from late evening onwards on Dec 13<\/strong> and will probably also be quite good during Dec 14-15 <\/strong>. By the night of Dec 15\u201316, however, they are likely to have dropped off markedly. Given the unreliable December weather, however, it is best to make use of any clear sky rather than simply focus on the maximum night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a chart showing the location of the Geminid radiant:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Geminid
Geminid radiant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Tracks
Tracks of 2017 Geminids, as captured by the Section Director’s meteor camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Information about the Geminid meteor shower<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1461","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t