Geminids meteor shower: Best time to see it in New Zealand skies

RNZ

14 Dec, 2025 01:35 AMQuick Read

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The annual Geminids display, captured in 2023. Photo / Yasser Al-Zayyat, AFP

The best meteor shower of the year will be visible across New Zealand skies from Sunday night.

The annual meteor shower the Geminids, named after the constellation Gemini, comes from dust and debris left behind by the 3200 Phaethon asteroid.

Te Whatu Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki said it
occurred at roughly the same time each year, in mid-December.

“It is basically Earth passing through a trail of debris which has been left behind by an asteroid and those little bits of rock and dust and ice fall into the atmosphere.