Meteor showers 2026
Photograph the Leonids and Geminids with your iPhone.
Two meteor showers close out the year: the Leonids around November 17 and the Geminids on the night of December 13 to 14. Here’s when to go out, how to set up, and how to let your iPhone watch the sky while you do.
Leonids, around November 17
Sources differ on the peak. The American Meteor Society gives the night of November 16 to 17. The International Meteor Organization expects the maximum on November 17 at 23:45 UT, the evening of November 17 in the Americas, so the night of November 17 to 18 is worth trying too. The shower is active from November 6 to 30.
The Moon is about half lit and sets around 11 PM to midnight across the US, so start after moonset and keep going until dawn. The Leonids are a modest shower: about 15 meteors an hour under an ideal dark sky, and most people see fewer.
Geminids, December 13 to 14
The American Meteor Society calls the Geminids usually the strongest shower of the year and gives the peak as the night of December 13 to 14, with activity from December 4 to 17. It is the one major shower with good rates before midnight, because Gemini is well placed from about 10 PM.
The Moon is a thin crescent, about 15 percent lit, and sets around 9 PM across the US, so most of the night is dark. The IMO puts the maximum at 14:00 UT on December 14, daytime in the Americas, but the peak is broad, with rates of 100 or more over 10 to 12 hours. Its ideal rate is about 150 an hour; real skies show far fewer.
Pick your night
In Astrosimo, open the Sky tab and choose Events: both peaks are listed, with Remind me and Add to Calendar. Tonight covers this night and the next nine, with the forecast cloud cover and how much of the Moon is lit, so you can choose the clearest night near the peak. Turn on Meteor radiants in Layers to see where each shower appears to come from.
Set up the phone
Get away from streetlights and put your iPhone on a tripod or something solid, then leave it alone. Aim at the darkest open stretch of sky rather than only at the radiant. Meteors can cross any part of the sky, and a wide, dark view gives them the most room to cross the frame.
Let a session run
Choose Session, then Star Trails or Time-lapse, and press the shutter. The first frame waits two seconds so the tap doesn’t shake the shot, and the screen stays awake while it records. Star Trails folds every frame into one image, so a meteor bright enough to register may appear in it. Time-lapse turns the session into a clip of about 6 to 13 seconds. Nothing can promise a meteor. Each session is another chance.
Free and Pro
Free sessions run 5 or 10 minutes, and Pro adds 15 and 30. Free includes three successful captures in total, and a finished Star Trails or Time-lapse session counts as one. Failed or cancelled captures do not use your allowance. Free captures are verified with iCloud, so they need an internet connection; check for signal at your spot. Pro is $49.99 a year or $9.99 a month in the US, with no trial. Astrosimo needs iOS 27 or later.
Battery, cold and patience
Start with a full charge. Long sessions use power, and cold can shorten battery life, so bring a power bank if you can. Dress warmly, give your eyes time to adjust to the dark, and plan for a few sessions rather than one.
Sources
Dates, rates and Moon times on this page come from:
American Meteor Society, meteor shower calendar