The Geminids peak on 14 December. The best night depends on where you are.
The best night is 13–14 December in the Americas, Europe and Africa, and 14–15 December in most of Asia and Oceania. The moon is about 20% lit and sets before dawn in all 87 cities. The radiant, in Gemini, stands highest in the dark hours: from a dark site, expect about 93 meteors an hour at best in most of them, and up to 142 where it climbs highest.
Where you are
Your placeWorked out when the page opens
Dark sky—
The moon—
When to watch—
The radiant—
At a dark site—
The Americas
Atlanta13–14 Dec · 9:39 PM – 6:05 AM · radiant 80° up · about 120 an hour
Austin13–14 Dec · 9:41 PM – 5:53 AM · radiant 80° up · about 124 an hour
Bogotá13–14 Dec · 9:37 PM – 4:40 AM · radiant 60° up · about 103 an hour
Boston13–14 Dec · 8:26 PM – 5:24 AM · radiant 76° up · about 115 an hour
Buenos Aires13–14 Dec · 11:46 PM – 3:48 AM · radiant 22° up · about 42 an hour
Chicago13–14 Dec · 8:37 PM – 5:29 AM · radiant 76° up · about 120 an hour
Dallas13–14 Dec · 9:33 PM – 5:53 AM · radiant 81° up · about 124 an hour
Denver13–14 Dec · 8:54 PM – 5:36 AM · radiant 78° up · about 126 an hour
Houston13–14 Dec · 9:32 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 79° up · about 124 an hour
Las Vegas13–14 Dec · 8:43 PM – 5:11 AM · radiant 80° up · about 130 an hour
Lima13–14 Dec · 10:10 PM – 4:19 AM · radiant 44° up · about 83 an hour
Los Angeles13–14 Dec · 9:00 PM – 5:21 AM · radiant 80° up · about 131 an hour
Mexico City13–14 Dec · 10:02 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 74° up · about 121 an hour
Miami13–14 Dec · 9:35 PM – 5:37 AM · radiant 78° up · about 118 an hour
Minneapolis13–14 Dec · 8:53 PM – 5:57 AM · radiant 74° up · about 121 an hour
Montréal13–14 Dec · 8:29 PM – 5:39 AM · radiant 73° up · about 115 an hour
Nashville13–14 Dec · 8:45 PM – 5:18 AM · radiant 80° up · about 121 an hour
New Orleans13–14 Dec · 9:09 PM – 5:22 AM · radiant 80° up · about 122 an hour
New York13–14 Dec · 8:42 PM – 5:33 AM · radiant 77° up · about 116 an hour
Philadelphia13–14 Dec · 8:49 PM – 5:37 AM · radiant 78° up · about 117 an hour
Phoenix13–14 Dec · 9:35 PM – 5:55 AM · radiant 80° up · about 129 an hour
Portland13–14 Dec · 8:54 PM – 5:55 AM · radiant 73° up · about 130 an hour
Rio de Janeiro13–14 Dec · 10:05 PM – 3:34 AM · radiant 34° up · about 60 an hour
Salt Lake City13–14 Dec · 9:20 PM – 6:05 AM · radiant 77° up · about 128 an hour
San Diego13–14 Dec · 8:57 PM – 5:14 AM · radiant 80° up · about 131 an hour
San Francisco13–14 Dec · 9:10 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 79° up · about 132 an hour
Santiago13–14 Dec · 12:28 – 4:43 AM · radiant 23° up · about 46 an hour
São Paulo13–14 Dec · 10:20 PM – 3:46 AM · radiant 33° up · about 60 an hour
Seattle13–14 Dec · 8:47 PM – 5:57 AM · radiant 72° up · about 129 an hour
Toronto13–14 Dec · 8:58 PM – 5:59 AM · radiant 75° up · about 117 an hour
Vancouver13–14 Dec · 8:46 PM – 6:03 AM · radiant 71° up · about 128 an hour
Washington, DC13–14 Dec · 8:59 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 79° up · about 118 an hour
Europe
Amsterdam13–14 Dec · 8:38 PM – 6:36 AM · radiant 68° up · about 91 an hour
Athens13–14 Dec · 9:01 PM – 5:58 AM · radiant 78° up · about 91 an hour
Barcelona13–14 Dec · 9:23 PM – 6:29 AM · radiant 77° up · about 96 an hour
Berlin13–14 Dec · 8:01 PM – 6:02 AM · radiant 68° up · about 89 an hour
Brussels13–14 Dec · 8:46 PM – 6:35 AM · radiant 69° up · about 92 an hour
Copenhagen13–14 Dec · 7:51 PM – 6:11 AM · radiant 65° up · about 87 an hour
Dublin13–14 Dec · 8:21 PM – 6:22 AM · radiant 67° up · about 93 an hour
Edinburgh13–14 Dec · 7:56 PM – 6:15 AM · radiant 64° up · about 91 an hour
Hamburg13–14 Dec · 8:12 PM – 6:17 AM · radiant 67° up · about 89 an hour
Helsinki13–14 Dec · 7:33 PM – 6:31 AM · radiant 60° up · about 82 an hour
Istanbul13–14 Dec · 9:32 PM – 6:41 AM · radiant 77° up · about 90 an hour
Lisbon13–14 Dec · 9:16 PM – 6:11 AM · radiant 79° up · about 99 an hour
London13–14 Dec · 8:02 PM – 5:54 AM · radiant 68° up · about 93 an hour
Madrid13–14 Dec · 9:50 PM – 6:51 AM · radiant 78° up · about 97 an hour
Milan13–14 Dec · 8:43 PM – 6:07 AM · radiant 74° up · about 93 an hour
Moscow13–14 Dec · 8:05 PM – 6:31 AM · radiant 65° up · about 82 an hour
Munich13–14 Dec · 8:25 PM – 6:02 AM · radiant 72° up · about 91 an hour
Nice13–14 Dec · 8:56 PM – 6:12 AM · radiant 75° up · about 94 an hour
Oslo13–14 Dec · 7:35 PM – 6:27 AM · radiant 61° up · about 85 an hour
Paris13–14 Dec · 9:01 PM – 6:40 AM · radiant 71° up · about 93 an hour
Porto13–14 Dec · 9:08 PM – 6:12 AM · radiant 77° up · about 99 an hour
Prague13–14 Dec · 8:06 PM – 5:54 AM · radiant 70° up · about 90 an hour
Reykjavík13–14 Dec · 8:22 PM – 7:48 AM · radiant 57° up · about 89 an hour
Rome13–14 Dec · 8:38 PM – 5:49 AM · radiant 77° up · about 93 an hour
Stockholm13–14 Dec · 7:08 PM – 5:56 AM · radiant 61° up · about 84 an hour
Venice13–14 Dec · 8:30 PM – 5:55 AM · radiant 73° up · about 92 an hour
Vienna13–14 Dec · 8:04 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 72° up · about 90 an hour
Warsaw13–14 Dec · 7:31 PM – 5:31 AM · radiant 68° up · about 87 an hour
Zürich13–14 Dec · 8:40 PM – 6:13 AM · radiant 72° up · about 92 an hour
Africa
Cairo13–14 Dec · 8:45 PM – 5:17 AM · radiant 80° up · about 90 an hour
Cape Town13–14 Dec · 11:35 PM – 3:45 AM · radiant 23° up · about 36 an hour
Lagos13–14 Dec · 10:15 PM – 5:33 AM · radiant 62° up · about 86 an hour
Marrakesh13–14 Dec · 10:25 PM – 6:56 AM · radiant 80° up · about 99 an hour
Nairobi13–14 Dec · 10:08 PM – 5:06 AM · radiant 55° up · about 73 an hour
Asia
Bali14–15 Dec · 10:35 PM – 4:38 AM · radiant 46° up · about 82 an hour
Bangkok14–15 Dec · 10:13 PM – 5:17 AM · radiant 64° up · about 96 an hour
Beijing14–15 Dec · 9:32 PM – 5:51 AM · radiant 68° up · about 112 an hour
Bengaluru14–15 Dec · 10:18 PM – 5:17 AM · radiant 63° up · about 85 an hour
Delhi14–15 Dec · 10:02 PM – 5:41 AM · radiant 70° up · about 91 an hour
Hong Kong14–15 Dec · 10:06 PM – 5:34 AM · radiant 68° up · about 108 an hour
Kyoto14–15 Dec · 9:19 PM – 5:26 AM · radiant 70° up · about 125 an hour
Mumbai14–15 Dec · 10:31 PM – 5:45 AM · radiant 67° up · about 86 an hour
Osaka14–15 Dec · 9:21 PM – 5:27 AM · radiant 69° up · about 124 an hour
Seoul14–15 Dec · 9:52 PM – 6:05 AM · radiant 69° up · about 119 an hour
Shanghai14–15 Dec · 9:24 PM – 5:18 AM · radiant 71° up · about 115 an hour
Singapore14–15 Dec · 11:12 PM – 5:43 AM · radiant 54° up · about 88 an hour
Taipei14–15 Dec · 9:32 PM – 5:09 AM · radiant 69° up · about 114 an hour
Tel Aviv13–14 Dec · 8:27 PM – 5:05 AM · radiant 80° up · about 89 an hour
Tokyo14–15 Dec · 9:02 PM – 5:11 AM · radiant 70° up · about 127 an hour
Oceania
Auckland14–15 Dec · 12:28 – 4:04 AM · radiant 20° up · about 51 an hour
Brisbane14–15 Dec · 10:22 PM – 3:14 AM · radiant 29° up · about 65 an hour
Honolulu13–14 Dec · 10:03 PM – 5:41 AM · radiant 75° up · about 142 an hour
Melbourne14–15 Dec · 12:35 – 3:57 AM · radiant 19° up · about 41 an hour
Perth14–15 Dec · 10:59 PM – 3:24 AM · radiant 24° up · about 46 an hour
Sydney14–15 Dec · 11:43 PM – 3:54 AM · radiant 23° up · about 51 an hour
How it is worked out
The showerThe International Meteor Organization puts the Geminids’ rate at 150 an hour at the peak, for a radiant overhead under a perfectly dark sky. The rate here falls away on either side of the peak as the organization’s profile does.
The nightThe peak is an instant, 2026-12-14 13:42 UTC this time. Each place’s night is the one, of the three around it, whose best hour shows the most meteors.
The radiantThe radiant is the point the meteors seem to come from, in Gemini, at +33° of declination. The higher it stands, the more meteors reach your sky: the rate here is the shower’s times the sine of its height.
The dark and the moonDark is the sun 18° below the horizon. The moon’s light hides the fainter meteors, so the hours to watch are the dark ones after it sets, read through the night to the minute.
Your own skyThe rates are for a dark site with a clear sky. Street lights hide most meteors, so a town shows far fewer, and cloud shows none.
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