Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Thursday, December 13th.  The sun will rise at 8:11.  It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02.  The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

Tonight will be the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This is one of the most active showers of the year.  Some say it’s even more active than the Perseid meteor shower of August with up to 100 meteors or shooting stars visible an hour.  They will seem to come from near the star Castor in the constellation Gemini which is rising high towards midnight.  The moon will not interfere because it’s new.  The radiant point is highest at 2 a.m. But will be in the sky from 8 p.m. on  All you’ll need then is clear skies.  If it does clear up, make sure you dress warmly.  It will take up to 10 minutes or even more for your eyes to get accustomed to the darkness to be able to see the meteors.  The meteors are related to a body called Phaethon, a dead comet nucleus.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Geminid Radiant