Every year, there are a dozen major meteor showers and they’re a real treat for stargazers and astrophotographers alike. Geminid is one of the last ones, and tonight is your chance to capture it. On 13 and 14 December, the annual Geminid meteor shower is at its peak, so get your gear ready and find a nice and dark spot to take some shots.
Bright Moon isn’t very helpful when observing the meteor shower. Thankfully, the Moon will only be 1% full tonight so it won’t get in your way. Of course, you’ll also need to find a dark spot with lots of open skies visible so you have the best chance of spotting and capturing the “shooting stars.”
EarthSky writes that you can observe the meteor shower at pretty much any time in the late evening. However, note that the best time is around 2 am, no matter where you are located. Another important thing to note is that the Geminid meteor shower is more visible in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere. Folks in the Southern Hemisphere will be able to see it too, but they will see much fewer meteors.
So, you’ve got your dark spot, the Moon isn’t too bright, and your gear is all packed up. Great! Now the only need you need to worry about are the clouds. If the weather in your area is terrible like it’s been in my hometown lately, there’s a consolation prize for us: NASA will share a live stream of the Geminid meteor shower, so we can tune in.
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