Geminids in Cape Town

The Geminids meteor shower peaks from Cape Town around Dec 13-14, with up to 120 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. In 2026 a thin crescent moon leaves mostly dark skies, and from Cape Town the radiant in Gemini climbs to 24° above the north horizon around 02:45. Local best viewing window: 00:20–03:45 SAST on the peak night, about 3.4 hours of astronomical darkness. Scaled to that altitude, the 120/hour headline figure works out to roughly 49 meteors an hour from Cape Town under a genuinely dark sky. The radiant stays low from Cape Town, so expect fewer meteors but longer, shallower trails near the horizon. Tonight: solid cover, with no real breaks forecast.