Geminid Meteors Peak Dec. 13, 14

Dec. 12, 2025

Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – Sky watchers will be in for a treat as the Geminid meteors will peak this week, on the night of Dec. 13-14. This year’s Geminids will peak during a waning crescent Moon, so the Moon will not be a large factor in diminishing the number of meteors that may be viewed in the night sky. “This will make for almost perfect conditions if the weather cooperates,” said Dr. Mel Blake, Planetarium Director and Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics. “Meteor showers are named after the constellations from which they appear to emanate. If you trace back the path of the meteors in a meteor shower, they all point back to a certain spot on the sky. The constellation where the spot is located gives the meteor shower its name.” Dr. Blake went on to explain that a meteor is just a dust particle burning up in the atmosphere. They all appear to come from the same direction as a result of an optical illusion reminiscent of the way railroad tracks that run parallel to each other appear to meet in the distance. “In the case of the Geminids, the meteors appear to be coming from the constellation Gemini, the Twins, near the two bright stars Castor and Pollux at the head of the Twins,” he said. The Geminid meteors result when the Earth passes through the debris of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon that may have been struck by another object, throwing debris into space. This is unusual as most meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the dust of a comet. The Geminids were first noticed in 1862 and seem to be increasing in number each year. The peak of the shower lasts only a few days. The particles themselves have had orbital studies performed, confirming their unusual origin from an asteroid rather than a comet. Earth and Jupiter appear to be slowly modifying the particle’s orbits. The parent object was discovered using the Infrared Astronomical Survey, or IRAS, and is now named 3200 Phaethon. Some astronomers speculate that it is not an asteroid at all but an extinct comet. Likely the asteroid was struck by another object, ejecting material into space and producing the meteors. From a dark location, you can normally see about two or three random meteors per hour; predictions for the Geminids this year suggest up to 100 meteors per hour, around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14. One advantage of the Geminid meteors is that the constellation Gemini is visible from sunrise to sunset for northern observers, so the meteors can be watched throughout the night. Dr. Blake suggests keeping eye on the sky through Dec. 18.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.