View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Roger Oban in Tucson, Arizona, captured this photo of Geminid on December 14, 2020. He shot this meteor from his backyard. Thanks, Roger!
The Geminid 2020 meteor shower peaked around the night of December 13-14, and many reported a spectacular display! For example, former meteor observer Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona – who watched December 13 in the late afternoon – wrote:
I had a great night! There were several firearms and many clear Sirius meters [Editor’s note: Sirius is the brightest star in the sky]. I saw a total of 77 between 1:30 am and 4 in the morning
View at EarthSky Community Photos | Matthew Schmidt captured several meters from Island Beach State Park, USA, on December 13, 2020, by stacking 16 beats into a comic collection. He wrote: “Jersey Coast should have a cloudy night. We just happened to miss a few hours of clear skies. Good light show! ”. Thank you, Matthew!
View at EarthSky Community Photos | Kent and Carolyn Carlson captured this meteor over Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA on December 13, 2020. They wrote: “Carolyn and I drove a bus half a mile up the hill through the snow after dark up to a small cliff overlooking Moraine Park. We received an award from the most spectacular meteor display, mostly coming around or through Orion constellation in the east. We only spent 2 hours on site due to the blowing snow and silly winds. ” Thank you, Kent and Carolyn!
View on Flickr. | Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona captured this bright grazing fireball on December 13, 2020. Thank you, Eliot!
Eddie Irizarry in Puerto Rico captured a short video he shared with us. He said:
The meteor shower was gorgeous!
The 2021 lunar calendars are here! Order your own before they leave. Making a great gift!
Not everyone saw a good show, though. Bob Holderness-Roddam from Australia did his best, but it wasn’t as big as the shower nearby. He wrote:
I got out of bed at 1 a.m. Eastern Australia Daylight Saving Time on Monday morning, got into my car and drove to a very dark place away from the city – just a couple farmhouse lights on the horizon. Excellent view of Castor and Pollux, as well as Orion and other constella. But, bugger all meteors. Five in total from 1:15 am to 3:20 am Three rather slender, the other two not particularly clear. Did I do something wrong, or was the show a ‘no show’ show?
You did it right, Bob. It’s always like that – the farther you are from the city lights – the more meters you can see. But this is nature; it always has an invisible component. The best thing you can do for any meteor shower is to get away from the city lights, look up, and hope for the best! While the peak of the Geminids has passed, this meteor shower is expected to last until around December 22 this year, according to the Meteor Association of America. Try again?
Check out the stunning photos below, from this year’s Geminid shower. Thanks to everyone who has submitted to EarthSky Community Photos!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Kristian Evar Palac in Lucban, Quezon, Philippines captured this image on December 15, 2020 during the Geminid meteor shower summit. Thank you, Kristian!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Chirag Bachani captured the images to make this combination of the Geminids on December 14, 2020. He wrote: “The Geminid shower show was spectacular with over 100 meteors per hour at a maximum of around 2 am local on 14 December. displays over 40 meteors captured overnight from the dark skies of Bortle Class 1 in Marathon, Texas. Many of the meteors lasted over 2 seconds and were usually green and blue. Also present is the astronomy Andromeda in the center left of the image. ”Thank you, Chirag!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Martha Dean of San Saba County, Texas, captured this image of a Geminid fireball on December 14, 2020. She wrote: “After the clouds cleared the skies were full of Geminid meters. A beautiful, cold night in Central Texas. ”Thank you, Martha!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Matt Lantz in Palo Pinto County, Texas, captured this photo of 5 Geminids on December 14, 2020. He wrote: “This year’s Geminid shower didn’t disappoint! He was so happy to get several clear meters in this place over a short period of time. The shower was amazing, but it was late, cold, and I was ready to go home. ”Thanks, Matt!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | This photograph of a bright Geminid was captured by David Byers in Texas Hill Country on December 14, 2020. He wrote: “You went out into the dark sky of the mountain country. When I started shooting it was rough but it was cleaned about an hour before this picture. “Thanks, David!
Bottom line: Some EarthSky community members saw the big Geminid 2020 shower and shared their images with us.
