The Geminids are considered to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers and are set to peak on December 15 in Australia and New Zealand.
This meteor shower is visible from December 3rd to December 19th are considered to be one of the most spectacular.
Best time to view this meteor shower will be overnight December 14/15 December depending on your time zone. The Moon will not rise until about 06:30 AEDT on 14 and after Sunrise on the 15th.
So best to try both nights Dec 14/15.
The thin crescent Moon doesn’t set until after about 21:41 on the 14th and 22:36 on the 15th so won’t interfere with viewing.
This is the one major shower that provides good activity prior to midnight as the constellation of Gemini is well placed from midnight onward. The Geminids are often bright and intensely coloured. Due to their medium-slow velocity, persistent trains are not usually seen. These meteors are also seen in the southern hemisphere, but only during the middle of the night and at a reduced rate.
The shower owes its name to the constellation Gemini because the meteors seem to emerge from this constellation in the sky. Whereas most meteor showers are associated with comets this one is associated with an asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
