Why the radiant matters: the Geminids from Guyana

Explainer · 0:45 · silent, with on-screen words

The Geminids’ 2026 peak night over Georgetown, Guyana, from dusk to dawn: how the meteors an hour climb with the radiant, from a handful at 20:00 to the best hour around 02:00.

The video file (MP4, 3132 kB)

Shows the Geminids’ peak night of 13-14 December 2026 from Georgetown (6.80° N, 58.16° W), 18:00 to 05:30 GYT, the whole sky overhead.

Chapters

  1. 0:03 After dark
  2. 0:08 The radiant climbs
  3. 0:20 The best hour
  4. 0:26 Toward dawn
  5. 0:34 Why height matters

From the lesson Meteor Showers: Your First Sky Event.

What the video shows, in words

A silent 45-second explainer drawn from the site’s own sky chart and Meteor Shower Simulator. It runs through the Geminids’ peak night of Sun 13 Dec to Mon 14 Dec 2026 over Georgetown, Guyana, from 18:00 to 05:30 Guyana time, showing the whole sky overhead with the radiant marked, and counts the meteors an hour the simulator expects as the radiant climbs.

The Geminids (parent Asteroid 3200 Phaethon) have a zenithal hourly rate of 150, radiant near right ascension 7.5 h, declination +33°; the 2026 maximum is Mon 14 Dec, 09:49 GYT. Astronomical dark lasts from 18:54 to 04:40; the crescent Moon sets at 21:30, leaving the rest of the night dark.

Radiant height and meteors an hour: 20:00 6° up, about 3; 00:00 53° up, about 105; 02:00 64° up, about 126; 05:30 33° up, about 57. Best: about 126 an hour at 01:50, the radiant 64° up.

The rate model keeps a share of the ZHR that grows with the radiant’s height, the sine of the height raised to (r − 1) with r = 2.6: 11% at 15°, 33% at 30°, 84% at 64°. The streaks on screen are an illustration of meteors running out from the radiant, their number set by the rate, not a forecast of individual meteors.

  1. 0:00 A meteor shower’s rate depends on how high its radiant is. Watch the Geminids’ best night of 2026 from Georgetown, dusk to dawn.
  2. 0:03 At 20:00 the radiant in Gemini is only 6° up in the ENE: about 3 meteors an hour, though the shower is at its peak.
  3. 0:08 As the sky turns the radiant climbs: 53° up by midnight, and about 105 an hour.
  4. 0:20 Around 01:50 it stands 64° up, its highest in the dark, and the simulator expects about 126 an hour under a dark, moonless sky.
  5. 0:26 Then it sinks into the west, and dawn ends the show: astronomical twilight begins at 04:40.
  6. 0:34 A low radiant sends its meteors in at a slant, so fewer reach your sky: the simulator keeps 11% of the ZHR at 15°, 33% at 30° and 84% at 64°.
  7. 0:41 For any shower: wait until its radiant is high, in a dark sky, with the Moon down.

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