--- title: Geminid Meteor Shower 2018: When and How to Watch description: Stargazers willing to endure December's chill are in for a treat Thursday night into Friday morning: the Geminid meteor shower. canonical: https://time.com/5478770/geminid-meteor-shower-how-watch-tips/ author: Alex Fitzpatrick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-13T16:07:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:02.131Z article:section: Science og:title: The Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Thursday. How to Watch og:description: It's one of the year's best meteor showers og:url: https://time.com/5478770/geminid-meteor-shower-how-watch-tips/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb45ecd787a0c97ee/6989416dbc6cfc109e3e7b61/geminid-meteor-shower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Geminid Meteor Shower og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Thursday. How to Watch twitter:description: It's one of the year's best meteor showers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb45ecd787a0c97ee/6989416dbc6cfc109e3e7b61/geminid-meteor-shower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 2018 Geminid Meteor Shower, One of the Year's Best, Peaks Thursday. Here's How to Watch > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=62d99e8f-6698-47f3-8d3d-15cecc9c329e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Men of the Year Reunite After 50 years to Reflect On a Historic Moon Voyage [Watch (HLS stream): Men of the Year Reunite After 50 years to Reflect On a Historic Moon Voyage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NM0p2XN3.m3u8) (3:24)  _Published 2018-12-10. In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8—Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders—had rocketed away from the mess at home and ventured out to the moon, be-coming the first human beings to reach and orbit our closest celestial neighbor._  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Dec 13, 2018 4:07 PM UTC  A meteor hurtling to earth during the annual Geminid meteor shower on December 14, 2009. A meteor hurtling to earth during the annual Geminid meteor shower on December 14, 2009. Barcroft—Barcroft Media via Getty Images  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Dec 13, 2018 4:07 PM UTC Stargazers willing to endure December’s chill are in for a treat Thursday night into Friday morning: the 2018 Geminid meteor shower, typically one of the best meteor showers of the year, peaks the evening of Dec. 13 and the morning of Dec. 14. The Geminid meteor shower happens every year, when the Earth flies through debris left behind by an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon. The shooting stars appear to radiate from the constellation Gemini, hence the name. But they can show up anywhere in the sky, often with a stunning brilliance that makes them well worth hanging out in the cold. Heading out to see the Geminid meteor shower? Here are some helpful tips: * Find a dark location away from artificial light with a view of as much of the sky as possible; websites like [Dark Sky Finder](https://darksitefinder.com/map/) can help you find good spots. * Avoid using flashlights, or use flashlights with red-color settings, to preserve your night vision. It can take up to 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. * Dress in warm layers and respect the elements; bring supplies like hand-warmers or coffee in a thermos and don’t stray far from your vehicle or other warm location in case you find yourself getting too cold. * While you may see some Geminids after sunset, the best time to watch for them is in the hours just before dawn on Friday. * Double-check your local forecast to make sure clouds won’t obstruct your view. ## Transcript In the eighth year of man flight into space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration prepared man and equipment for the most advanced man mission to date. You have to remember the year of Apollo 8, Vietnam, unpopular war was going on, riots on the streets [ MUSIC ] Two assassinations, the country was in a very bad mood, and it really needed something to bring it up, something they could look forward to. Something they could be proud of. And this is exactly what happened in the Apollo 8 mission. The CIA had the word that the Russians were gonna try to do it before the end of the year. 400, 000 people that put that thing together and made it work. It was an incredible form of part of America, and we beat the Russian. Two, one, zero, we have commit, we have- Blast off, the [ UNKNOWN ] is running. We have blast off. This was the first flight on the Saturn V, manned. This was the first First time they'd gone to their nearest neighbor in the solar system. While there, Frank had chosen to read from the book of Genesis. And the earth was without form and void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. Which really not only shocked people, but really caught their attention. So there was a lot about Apollo 8 It was a blow to the emotional folks on the ground listening to it. And God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth. These two talented guys, I'm just proud that I was able to fly with them. Because it was a tough job done in four months, and we did a good job, [ MUSIC ] Yeah, look at that picture over there. There's the Earth coming up. Get a color film in. Bill took the picture with a 250 millimeter lens, right? That he didn't want me to take. And color film. Well, in one picture it told the whole story of Apollo 8 and The people of the Earth. You've taken all of us all over the world into a new era. The Apollo program was uniquely American program, and it didn't have a lot of international input. And when we came to the moon and Apollo 11 finally And we came for all mankind. The Americans came for all mankind. As I looked down at the earth, which is about the size of your fist at arm's length, I'm thinking, this is not a very big place. Why can't we get along? And I must say that the situation has gotten worse since Apollo. We ought to go as human beings. [ MUSIC ] Somewhere along the line, though I'm not a poet, I managed to say that to me it was strange that we It worked and come all the way to the moon to study the moon and what we really discovered was the Earth. Exactly. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5478770/geminid-meteor-shower-how-watch-tips/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5478770/geminid-meteor-shower-how-watch-tips/"},"headline":"The 2018 Geminid Meteor Shower, One of the Year's Best, Peaks Thursday. 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