Home > Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing > Ephemeris: 12/13/2024 – The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight

Ephemeris: 12/13/2024 – The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight

December 13, 2024

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, December 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:12. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:45 tomorrow morning.

Tonight is the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. Unfortunately this year we’re two days before a full moon so it will cut down their numbers, so only the brightest Geminids will be visible. The radiant for the meteor shower is a point near the star Castor at the head of constellation Gemini, the twins, which is why they’re called the Geminids. This is the most active annual shower of the year right now. The source of the Geminids is the asteroid Phaethon which is probably the core of a dead comet. It is the closest asteroid to the sun at its perihelion in its markedly elliptical orbit like a comet. One of the Stereo Sun observation satellites saw Phaethon shedding material as it moved around at its closest approach to the Sun.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Geminid Radiant
Geminid Radiant near the star Castor in Gemini. The radiant will reach its peak altitude in high in the south at 2:39 AM tomorrow morning, when normally the greatest numbers of meteors might be expected to be seen. The meteors can be seen all over the sky, but the Geminid meteor trails point back to the radiant. From my LookingUp program.
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