| December 4 | Full Cold Supermoon |
| December 13 and 14 | Geminids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak |
| December 19 | Comet 3I/ATLAS Closest Approach to Earth |
| December 21 | Winter Solstice |
| December 22 | Ursids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak |
As one might expect from a month full of long, dark nights, December is a highlight for those with a penchant for looking to the stars. This year, the stargazing on offer promises to be particularly good. The full moonâa supermoon, mind youâhappens early in the month, leaving the rest of December blanketed in blissful darkness: perfect for catching two meteor showers, one very special comet, and savoring the longest night of the year.
December 4: Full Cold Supermoon
December brings Moonfest â25 to a close with the last of three consecutive supermoons. As per The Old Farmerâs Almanac, the aptly named Cold Moon will reach its full size on December 4 at 6:14 p.m. EST.While it wonât be quite as large as Novemberâs most super of supermoons, it will still be a fittingly impressive moon for a packed month of stargazing.
December 13 and 14: Geminids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
If youâre only going to see one meteor shower a year, pretty much every stargazing source out there agrees that the Geminids are the one to choose. While the Perseids might be more famous, and the Draconids more likely to yield an unexpected full-blown meteor storm, the Geminids are steady, reliable, and occur at a time of year when thereâs plenty of night to devote to seeing them. They also start earlyâjust a couple of hours after duskâand continue throughout the night. At their peakâwhich is expected to be around 3 a.m. on December 14âyou can expect to see up to 75 meteors an hour!
To see the show, look to the constellation Gemini, in the eastern sky and will reach its greatest elevation above the horizon at about 2 a.m. The meteors will appear to originate from near the constellationâs twin stars Castor and Pollux, and will appear to move away from the constellation as they burn up in our atmosphere.
December 19: Comet 3I/ATLAS Closest Approach to Earth
Enthusiastic stargazers will no doubt have been following the story of 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar comet of which NASA has released a series of spectacular images. The â3Iâ part of the cometâs name is a testament to the rarity of this type of object: itâs only the third such object of interstellar origin ever discovered.
In October, 3I/ATLAS reached its perihelionâthe point at which it came closest to the sun..While it was technically at its brightest around that time, the comet was also lost in the glare of the sun, making it impossible to see from Earth. It will make its closest approach to us on December 19, although closest doesnât necessarily mean particularly close (or dangerous). Comet 3I/ATLAS will still be 170 million miles away, which is about twice the distance between the Earth and the sun. While it will be visible throughout December, the naked eye wonât cut it; youâll need a decent telescope to spot it. And you wonât be able to see anything rivalling NASAâs images unless you have a radio telescope casually stashed in the garage.
If you have a telescope ready, The Live Sky recommends looking at the constellations Virgo and Leo.Itâs worth a try since youâll be able to say that youâve seen something genuinely rare: a comet that originated outside the solar system.
December 21: Winter Solstice
âTis the yearâs midnight, as poet John Donne once wrote. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 will be the shortest day of 2025 aka the winter solstice!
Solstices occur because Earthâs axis isnât perfectly aligned with the plane of its orbit around the sun. If that was the case, both Northern and Southern hemispheres would always receive the same amount of light, and we wouldnât have opposite summers and winters north and south of the equator.
In reality, the Earthâs axis is tilted at a 23.4 degree angle. This angle remains constant in relation to Earthâs orbital plane, which means that over the course of a year, it changes in relation to the sun. The Northern Hemisphereâs winter solstice is the day on which the tilt takes the North Pole furthest from the sun. This means that itâs also the day on which the South Pole is closest, so that the Northern Hemisphereâs winter solstice is the Southern Hemisphereâs summer solstice, and vice versa.
Anyway, while long nights are bad news for sun bunnies, theyâre good news for stargazersâand especially this year, becauseâŠ
December 22: Ursids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak
Just a day after the winter solstice, thereâs another meteor shower to see! While the Ursids donât attain the same level of celestial pyrotechnics as the Geminids, they still provide a steady supply of meteors The fact that theyâre happening on the second-longest night of the year and with very little moonlight to interfere with their glow, means that you really couldnât pick a better year to try to catch them.
As per the Old Farmerâs Almanac, the best time to do so will be just before dawn, so set an alarm clock, look to the north, and settle in for one last meteor session for 2025.
Whatever youâre looking for in the sky, remember that youâll get the best experience if you get away from any sources of light pollution and let your eyes acclimatize to the darknessâand you check out our stargazing tips before you head off into the night.
Until next year!
