Meteor shower
Geminids 2026
The Geminids are a major annual meteor shower: at the maximum, under perfect conditions, about 120 meteors an hour. This year the peak is expected on 14 December 2026.
Key facts
- Expected peak
- (give or take 12 hours)
- Best night
- The night of 13 to 14 December; the night of 14 to 15 December is nearly as good. Shown in your time zone (Europe/London).
- Rate at the maximum (ZHR)
- 120
- Speed
- 34.6 km/s
- Radiant
- In Gemini (right ascension 7 h 32 min, declination +32.3°)
The peak of the Geminids is a moment, and often in daylight; what counts is a dark night close to it. We take nights centred on 02:00 local time and call a night good when that midpoint lies within the margin of the peak (give or take 12 hours) plus three hours. The closest night is named first.
Where to look
The Geminids seem to come from one point in the sky, the radiant, which lies in Gemini. At 02:00 in London, in the middle of the best night, the radiant stands about 70° above the horizon.
Moonlight
In London the Moon is below the horizon between 00:00 and 05:00 on the best night (21% lit), so there is no moonlight in the best hours. Verdict: favourable (little moonlight).
We look at whether the Moon is up between 00:00 and 05:00 local time on the best night, not only at how much of it is lit. In other places the hours differ.
Where the Geminids come from
Unlike most meteor showers, which come from comets, the Geminids come from an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon, about 5.1 kilometres across, which orbits the Sun once in 1.4 years. Scientists are not sure how to classify it: it may be a ‘dead comet’ or ‘rock comet’, but its spectra look like those of a rocky asteroid. The astronomer Fred Whipple realised that Phaethon is the source of the Geminids.
Source: NASA Science, ‘Geminids’, science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/geminids/ (page last updated 13 August 2026; read on 28 October 2026).
Sources
- IAU Meteor Data Centre, Established meteor showers (V.2): radiant and speed.
- RASC Observer’s Handbook 2025, table of meteor showers: solar longitude of the maximum and the rate (ZHR); the peak moment is calculated from it, with a margin.
- NASA Science, ‘Geminids’: the parent body 3200 Phaethon.
- Astronomy Engine: the Moon, the height of the radiant and the constellation boundaries.