It is time for one of the most reliable meteor showers of the year. The Geminids are active between 4 and 17 December, with the peak of activity usually coming on the night of 13-14 December. This year, the peak is expected to bring about 120 meteors an hour, although a nearby waxing gibbous Moon with around 73% of its surface illuminated will make if difficult to see the fainter meteors. As the name suggests, the Geminids radiate from a point within Gemini, the twins, just above the constellation’s two brightest stars Castor and Pollux. The meteors will appear to streak across the sky in all directions from this point, known as the radiant. The chart shows the view looking south-east from London at midnight as 13 becomes 14 December. The Geminids are known for being slower (just 35 km/s!) than other meteors, and this makes them easier to spot as they burn up. Unusually, this meteor shower is though to be debris from an asteroid, known as 3200 Phaethon, rather than a comet. Often they can have a yellow hue to their light. The shower is visible from many locations across the globe. From the southern hemisphere, the radiant point will appear in the northern sky.