The Geminid meteor shower peaks Friday night. That’s how you see.

The final weeks of December often bring some interesting weather, and so does the night sky, which will be a stargazer’s delight from tonight when the Geminid meteor shower peaks and becomes more visible.

One of the most powerful meteor showers of the year, the Geminids actually originate from the sun-orbiting asteroid 3200 Phaethon and peak when Earth cuts the dust cloud left by the asteroid. These meteors can range in color from yellow to white or even green.

Unfortunately there is a full moon tonight so it will compete with the meteors. But the Geminids are known to be quite bright, so if you want to take a look, we may still be able to see some of them through the moonlight. We’ll get mostly clear skies tonight into Saturday, so it might be worth staying up or setting an alarm.

“If your sky is clear and transparent, you can still see many bright meteors by turning a direction with the moon at your back,” says the American Meteor Society.

Typically, you can see about 120 meteors per hour, but with a nearly full moon this year, according to the meteor community, up to 15 per hour are expected at peak times.

You should see good activity after midnight. No telescopes or binoculars are needed while viewing a meteor shower. All you need is your eyes. For the best view, people should step away from city lights and give their eyes time to adjust to the darkness (about 30 to 45 minutes).

The Geminids will be visible to a lesser extent until December 21.

A smaller meteor shower appearing next week is known as the Ursids. This is not a meteor shower that I would stay up for, but if you happen to be up looking outside, you can see these meteors peak on the 21st-22nd. December. It’s also right before Christmas, so many people might be too busy.

Then, just after the New Year, the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks. Remember that meteor showers are not a one-off event. This meteor shower becomes active in late December and continues into the second week of January. The peak is precisely when the maximum number is likely to occur. This is another meteor shower originating from an asteroid. Like the Geminids, this shower can produce up to 120 meteors per hour.

Also in December, the moon is full on December 15 and is called the cold moon. The following month’s full moon, the wolf moon, falls on January 14.

Planets also become visible in December and January. We start the month of December with a new moon, so it’s a good opportunity to check out the night sky.

Venus is visible in the evening sky looking south-southwest. It will be the brightest object you see in that direction after sunset.

Jupiter and Earth had their closest transit on December 6, but you can still get a good view of Jupiter through early February.

Mars will brighten and remain visible in the evening sky as we close out 2024 and enter 2025. It will be brightest in January. The reddish hue of the night sky object makes it easier to spot.

Perhaps the biggest celestial event starting in 2025 will be a relatively rare planetary alignment. Many of these planets will be visible to the naked eye and if you have a telescope you will be able to see them all.

Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the evening sky in late January. With a telescope you can throw in Neptune and Uranus. Some reports even say that Mercury can be briefly visible with the right equipment.

You’ll probably hear about January 25th as the best day to see this, but if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll get viewings a few days before and several days after anyway.

The long winter nights provide plenty of opportunity to see our fantastic universe above us. Of course, don’t forget that the astronomical winter arrives at 16.19 Saturday 21 December. The amount of daylight will slowly start to grow from that point forward.