Skywatchers across the Northern Hemisphere are set for one of the year’s most reliable meteor displays as the Geminid shower peaks overnight on December 13–14, 2025. A waning crescent moon will rise only after midnight, so its light will not spoil the view, and Jupiter will sit close to the shower’s radiant point in Gemini, making it easier to locate.
The peak is forecast for 3 UTC on December 14. Because the radiant rises in mid to late evening, observers can watch from late evening until dawn, with the nights surrounding the peak also offering good conditions. Under a dark rural sky up to 120 meteors an hour may be visible, many of them bright and often colourful.
The Geminids remain a favourite because they are plentiful and easy to spot across the sky. Although the radiant lies near the star Castor in Gemini, the meteors can appear from any direction.
The shower is unusual because it originates not from a comet but from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, discovered in 1983. Scientists believe it is a dormant or extinct comet whose debris stream crosses Earth’s orbit each December.
The current Geminid activity period runs from November 19 to December 24. For the best chance of catching the brightest meteors, including the slow earthgrazers that skim the horizon, both late evening and the hours around 2 a.m. are ideal.
