Geminids 2026

44 nights to go

Sunday 13 December 2026 · All night

The Moon that night: 22% lit. If the sky is clear.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night of 13–14 December 2026. The Moon is a thin crescent that sets by about 9 pm, so the hours after it are dark: the best Geminids in years for families.

On 13 December, lots of shooting stars fall. Ask a grown-up to take you outside after dark. Lie on a blanket, look up, and count.

The Geminids are the year's richest shower, and in 2026 the Moon is out of the way: it is a thin crescent and sets early in the evening. Even before bedtime there should be a few, and the rate climbs until about 2 am.

In 2026 the Geminid peak falls five nights after new Moon, so the sky after moonset is as dark as your neighbourhood allows. The AMS gives a rate of up to about 150 an hour from a perfect sky; from a town expect far fewer, but still more than any other night of the year.

A bright meteor streaks across a starry night sky above dark trees. — A Perseid meteor over Spruce Knob, West Virginia, on 11 August 2021, in a 30-second exposure. Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls (NASA Image and Video Library, public domain).

Where to look

Anywhere in the sky, away from lights. The streaks point back to Gemini, low in the east at 9 pm.

What to do

Go out at 9 pm or later, dressed for cold, with a blanket or a reclining chair.
Give your eyes twenty minutes in the dark: no phone screens.
Lie back and look up, not at one spot. Count every streak.

More sky events

“If it's cloudy, don't worry. The planets will still be there tomorrow night.”