The Year’s Top Meteor Shower Peaks This Week: How To See Geminids In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — Stargazers who want to catch the Geminids meteor shower, which NASA says is the best shooting star show of the year, should plan to get as far away from city lights in Pennsylvania for the peak Friday and Saturday.

Dark skies improve any stargazing experience, but this year could mean the difference in seeing a good number of the bright, fast meteors because the moon will be nearly full for most of the hours between 2 a.m. and dawn, when meteors are most likely. Under ideal conditions, up to 120 yellowish meteors are visible per hour.

The National Weather Service forecast for southeastern Pennsylvania calls for some rain through Wednesday, then drier conditions through the end of the week — with temperatures dropping into the 30s during the day Thursday and Friday.

The Pittsburgh area will have rain Tuesday and snow on Wednesday, then temperatures will reach the mid-20s on Thursday. The chance of rain and snow continues on Saturday and Sunday..

Because the Geminids are so prolific and build toward their peak, an early morning trip to a dark sky may be rewarding for Pennsylvania meteor fans. The moon sets later each morning, around 1.32 a.m. local time Tuesday, 2:47 a.m. Wednesday and 4:03 a.m. Thursday in the Philadelphia area.

During the peak, moon set is at 5:22 a.m. on Friday and 6:39 a.m. on Saturday, a day before December’s full cold moon reaches full illumination on the 15th.

Produced by debris left behind by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, the Geminids began appearing in the mid-1800s, but the shower wasn’t particularly noteworthy and produced only 10 or 20 meteors an hour, according to NASA. They have grown in intensity to become one of the major meteor showers of the year, the agency said.

The year closes out with the Ursid meteor shower, which runs Dec. 17-26 and peaks Dec. 22-23. The moon will still be bright at about 54 percent illumination, and that may interfere with viewing after midnight until dawn. At their peak, the Ursids produce about five or 10 shooting stars an hour. The shower is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 8P/Tuttle, discovered in 1790.

Shooting star seekers, take note: 2025 starts with another stunner, the prolific Quadrantids, which under perfect conditions can produce as many as 200 meteors an hour at their Jan. 4 peak. The shower runs Dec. 26-Jan. 16.

Most meteor showers have a two-day peak but the peak of the Quadrantids is only a few hours, according to NASA, which calls it “one of the best annual meteor showers.” The Quadrantids are rich in bright fireballs, larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.

• Related: Geminids, Solstice, Full Cold Moon: December Celestial Calendar