Stage Four Pitted Edema

Rain Geminids meteor

This is one of the best meteor showers of the year and never seems to disappoint observers. Peaks between the night of 13 December and early 14. Most meteor showers of debris from comets, but the Geminids are thought to come from the debris of an asteroid. The debris are larger, therefore the Geminids tend to be more bright and spectacular than the others.

This meteor shower called the Geminids because they appear to emerge from the constellation Gemini. A person the Northern Hemisphere may begin to observe the Geminids from December 6, whenever there is a meteor hour. Over the next week, the average increases to 50-80 meteors per hour on the night of 13 and morning of 14 December. The Geminids are seen last on December 18, when you can see a meteor per hour.

A burning Geminids on the Mojave Desert in December 2009

For observers in the southern hemisphere, the radiant is never placed so high as in the Northern Hemisphere, while further south is the city, further north appears radiant and this will reduce the number of meteors that can be observed. However, this does not stop on the night of 13 and morning of 14 can watch a good show in the sky.


The radiant is located in the constellation Gemini. It's called radiant, because from the perspective of an observer on Earth, the meteors appear to come from a particular area. You do not need the exact location of the time to look radiant, because meteors will be 'flying' across the sky, but the closer you look more radiant meteors will locate.

Moon crescent phase, will be hidden by the West no later than 1:30 am on December 14 (regardless of your location). Gemini will appear in the east at sunset and reach the top of the sky about 2 hours in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere Gemini makes its appearance later depending on the latitude, farther south in places like Argentina, Gemini appears in the north around midnight.

If you have trouble locating a Gemini, Orion locates which is easy to identify with the belt of Orion. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky can also help you locate Orion or Gemini.

Remember that for the Northern Hemisphere, Gemini rises in the east at sunset, to go placing higher and higher until you reach the top of your head around 2 am on 14 December.

For the Southern Hemisphere, the more you move away from Ecuador, Gemini will be placed further north, and rises in the east around midnight. If you are away from Ecuador, Gemini rises in the east earlier and be located closer to the center of the sky.

Watching from a city with lots of light pollution reduces the number of meteors visible. So it is best to get away to rural areas to observe a greater number of meteors.