Ursid meteor shower peaks Dec. 21–22 as Earth passes through debris from Comet 8P/Tuttle. Here’s when and where to watch the final meteor shower of 2025

The Hubble Space Telescope and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer have captured fresh images of an interstellar comet as the object nears its closest approach to Earth this month.

Comet 3I/Atlas will make its closest approach to Earth in December. The Geminid meteor shower peaks this month. Also, see a conjunction of Jupiter and the moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Geminids, considered one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers, is predicted to peak Dec. 12-13.

Astronomically speaking this is the date and time of the Winter Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere and the Summer Solstice for the Southern Hemisphere.

Protoplanetary disk. Figure from a computer simulation visualizing the formation of planets (https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12278 ). Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech. August 22, 2024, Mountain View, CA - An international team of 45 researchers studying meteor showers ...