Geminid Meteor Shower 2024: When, Where and How To See It

The yearly Geminid meteor shower began Tuesday night and will send shooting stars searing through the night sky until Christmas Eve.

Described by NASA as "one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers," the Geminids are expected to run between November 19 and December 24 this year, according to the American Meteor Society.

The shower is expected to hit its peak activity on the night of December 13, with up to 120 meteors per hour being visible in ideal conditions.

When Can You See the Geminid Meteor Shower?

The shower will result in increasing numbers of meteors being seen across the skies leading up to the peak. The meteors will appear to originate near the constellation Gemini, hence the shower's name, but will appear anywhere in the sky.

Stock image of the Geminids in 2023 (main) and illustration of the constellation Gemini (inset). The Geminids began last night, and will peak on December 13. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

The highest number of meteors will be visible when the Gemini radiant is highest in the sky, which will occur around 2 a.m. on the night of the peak in the Northern Hemisphere. Fewer meteors will be visible from the Southern Hemisphere, as Gemini is lower in the sky.

Gemini will rise in the eastern skies on the night of the peak on December 13, moving nearly totally overhead before setting in the western skies in the early hours of the morning.

"The Geminids are bright and fast meteors and tend to be yellow in color," according to NASA.

What Is the Geminid Meteor Shower?

The Geminids are unique compared to most meteor showers because they are caused by a rocky object, not a comet, unlike other meteor showers like the Perseids, Leonids, and Orionids.

The parent body of the Geminids is 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid-like "rock comet" object that orbits the sun in a long, oval-shaped ellipsis every 1.4 years.

"The Geminids are unusual as they are caused by an asteroid rather than a comet (most other meteor showers are due to comets). The asteroid is called 3200 Phaethon, it crosses the orbit of the Earth and as such it is classed as a near-Earth object (NEO), but is extremely unlikely to hit the Earth," astronomer Sam Rolfe of the University of Hertfordshire in England, told Newsweek.

"Its orbit is very eccentric, going between 21 million and 360 million kilometers [13 million and 224 million miles] distance from the sun (the Earth is around 150 million kilometers [93 million miles] from the sun) in about 1.4 years. This orbit causes it to heat up and cool down, therefore more likely to shed material, leaving a debris cloud which the Earth passes through causing the Geminids."

As 3200 Phaethon travels through space, it leaves a trail of debris in its wake. Each year, Earth passes through this trail of debris, and these chunks of rock and dust enter our atmosphere at 22 miles per second, causing the bright streaks of light we see as meteors.

The Geminids meteor shower is relatively young in the history of meteor showers and was only first observed in the mid-19th century. At the time, they were faint and not widely recognized as an annual meteor shower, but the Geminids' activity has increased over the years, and the shower now produces some of the brightest and most numerous meteors annually. This growth is likely due to gravitational influences from planets like Jupiter, which nudge the debris stream closer to Earth over time.

How Best To See the Geminid Meteor Shower

Unfortunately for hopeful stargazers, the moon is expected to interfere with the peak of the Geminids this year. Due to the full moon due on December 15, a bright waxing gibbous moon will light up the sky on December 13, the night of the peak, possibly drowning out the streaks of light of the meteors.

"You need dark skies, and the presence of, for example, a full moon can stop you seeing the fainter meteors. So even a good potential shower can be ruined if we have a bright Moon over many days," Daniel Brown, an associate professor in astronomy and science communication at Nottingham Trent University, previously told Newsweek.

NASA advises choosing a viewing location far from city or street lights, dressing warmly, and bringing a sleeping bag, blanket, or lawn chair for comfort. Lie flat on your back with your feet pointing south, gazing upward to see as much of the sky as possible. Allow about 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. The shower will continue until dawn, so you should be able to spot a good number of meteors despite the light of the moon.

You may also catch a glimpse of the tail-end of several other meteor showers in the lead-up to the Geminids peak: this year's Leonids run between November 3 and December 2, the Southern Taurids between September 23 and December 8, and the Northern Taurids between October 13 and December 2.

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