Geminid meteor shower 2021 set to peak this week: When and where to look up?

The annual Geminid meteor shower is currently active until December 17 and will peak on the night of December 13 into the morning of December 14, putting on a dazzling show for skywatchers globally.

Meteors appear all over the sky, just look up in any direction. You can also watch the Geminid meteor shower's peak (Dec. 13-14) via a meteor camera at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, starting at 8 p.m. CST on the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page.

Looking for a shooting star to wish on?Your best chance to see this year's Geminid meteor shower will likely be after the Moon sets in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Dec. 14. Get the details on @NASA_Marshall's Watch The Skies blog! https://t.co/oaXX9urlSn pic.twitter.com/PeeCgvuMMW

— NASA (@NASA) December 9, 2021

The Geminids are active every December when Earth passes through a massive trail of dusty debris shed by a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon.

In addition to weather, NASA says the phase of the Moon is a major factor that determines whether a meteor shower will have good rates during any given year. This year, the Moon will be almost 80% full at the peak of the Geminids, which isn't ideal for its highly regarded meteor shower.

"Rich in green-coloured fireballs, the Geminids are the only shower I will brave cold December nights to see," says Bill Cooke, lead for NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Best place to view Geminid meteor shower

According to NASA, Geminids can be seen with the naked eye by most of the world, though the best view is from the Northern Hemisphere. As you enter the Southern Hemisphere and move towards the South Pole, the altitude of the Geminid radiant, the celestial point in the sky where the Geminid meteors appear to originate, gets lower and lower above the horizon. Thus, observers in the Southern Hemisphere see fewer Geminids than their northern counterparts.