Geminids (GEM) meteor shower is second most observed shower of the year, right after summer time Perseids. It’s a reliable shower that regularly produces splendid and often bright meteors, with the occasional fireballs.

The shower peaks from 7pm December 13 until  5pm UT December 14

The Moon in last quarter rises after midnight which makes the first half of the night ideal time for observing, radiant raises just after sunset so it depends on how long you can stay out and observe. Don’t forget to wrap up warm!

Geminid meteor speeds are relative medium, averaging just 35 km per second and there should be plenty of them, 100-120 per hour in fact.

But Geminids are very different than other meteor showers, they originate from debris left from an asteroid, not a comet as usual.  This material is much harder than what’s left from a comet.

UKMON cameras recorded over 1,000 unified orbits during last year’s peak and this is what it looked like, each image below is a composite of all meteor recordings during the peak.

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