Spacedex.com - Meteor Showe Location Info for Australia
Meteor shower viewing information for Australia
Select your nearest location below this map for info on Geminids meteor shower peak times, meetups, and rates in your area. Info is updated when available.
Geminids Basic Information
The Geminids meteor shower is easily viewable from the whole Northern Hemisphere and from many Southern Hemisphere locations as well.
The brightness is at its maximum in the sky at approximately 2am, but from mid-northern latitudes it is at a respectable rise from around 10pm until the beginning of morning afterglow.
The Geminids can produce observed rates of over 100/hour at highest, and are consistent as well as impressive.
No telescope is needed or even wanted. Just find the darkest place you can with the fewest trees and tall buildings blocking your view of the sky, get a blanket and lay on the ground or a lawn chair that lets you recline way back and just look at the sky. Give it at least half an hour before you give up. You may go many minutes without seeing a single meteor even at the peak of the shower. Viewing is usually better after midnight because that puts you on the "front" side of the Earth in its orbit. Looking for meteors in the early evening is like looking for bug splats on the back window of your car. The bugs usually splat on the windshield in front.
Watching a meteor shower consists of lying back, looking up at the sky ... and waiting. When you sit quite still, close to the rapidly cooling ground, you can become very chilled. You wait and you wait for meteors to appear. When they don't appear right away, and if you're cold and uncomfortable, you're not going to be looking for meteors for very long! Therefore, make sure you're warm and comfortable. Heavy blankets, sleeping bags, groundcloths, auto cushions, and pillows are essential equipment.
