Home > Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing > Ephemeris: 12/14/2023 – The Geminids will still be near peak tonight

Ephemeris: 12/14/2023 – The Geminids will still be near peak tonight

December 14, 2023

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, December 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:13. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 6:31 this evening.

The Earth will pass through the heart of the Geminid meteoroid stream at about 2 this afternoon, so this evening is probably the best time to be able to see these meteors. They will appear to come from the northeastern to eastern sky in the evening. The Geminids are now the most active annual shower. This hasn’t always been the case, but the meteor rate has been increasing in recent years. Our problem with it is that it happens in December when, number one it’s cold, and number 2 it’s pretty cloudy. I must admit I’ve never seen a Geminid for those reasons. This year, it seems to have been clearer than previous years, so maybe we might get a glimpse at them. Stragglers of the Geminids can be seen until almost Christmas.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The sky dome for midnight on the night of December 14/15th.
The sky dome for midnight on the night of December 14/15th. The Geminid meteor shower radiant is designated with the tag GemR, near the star Castor in Gemini. Midnight is a good compromise. The meteor shower will be visible all night with the radiant starting in the east in the evening and ending in the West before dawn. The meteors will be seen all over the sky but will seem to originate from the radiant point even though their trails won’t track all the way back. There are other meteor showers active also, but they are minor, with only a few meteors an hour.
The Geminids are supposed to reach about 120 an hour at peak which would be at one or two in the morning which is about 12 hours after their actual peak. So that we won’t get the 120, but there’s an equal chance to spot them on the night of the 13/14th or 14/15th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Image created using my Looking Up app.
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