The 2017 Geminid Meteor Shower: Amazing Photos by Stargazers

Over the Desert

Tyler S. Leavitt

The Geminid meteor shower of 2017 peaked overnight on Dec. 13 and 14 and thrilled stargazers able to see it with dazzling meteors. Read our full story and see a video here. See photos from the meteor shower by Space.com readers here. This Photo: Photographer Tyler Leavitt captured this image of a Geminid meteor dashing through the sky over the Mojave desert just south of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bright Geminid Over Alaska

Matt Skinner/Lights Out Photography

A gorgeous, green meteor flies toward the northern lights in this stunning image by astrophotographer Matthew Skinner. He captured the meteor over a mountain range near Palmer, Alaska just after midnight on Dec. 14, when the Geminid meteor shower was at its peak. To the left of the meteor, a lime-green aurora peeks out from the top of the mountain range.

Tarantula Photobombs the Geminid Meteor Shower

Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project

During a live webcast of the Geminid meteor shower, hosted by the Virtual Telescope Project, a tarantula crept across the camera as a meteor streaked across the sky in the upper edge of the image.

Las Vegas Burst

Tyler S. Leavitt

A Geminid meteor bursts through the night sky in this image taken by photographer Tyler Leavitt near Las Vegas, Nevada. Above the meteor, you can see the Andromeda galaxy, our closest galactic neighbor.

Behind a Tree

Tyler S. Leavitt

A Geminid meteor crosses the sky behind a tree in the Mojave desert in this photo by Tyler Leavitt.

Tuscon Desert Meteor

BG Boyd

A giant Geminid meteor bursts into the edge of the frame in this shot taken by astrophotographer BG Boyd in Tucson, Arizona.

Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Show

Jorge Colomer

Photographer Jorge Colomer captured this shot of a Geminid meteor over Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

Paris, Texas Streaks

Tony Corso

Multiple Geminid meteors streak through the sky in this photo captured by Tony Corso just south of Paris, Texas.

Clear Skies

Tony Corso

Photographer Tony Corso captured a bright Geminid meteor under clear, starry skies just south of Paris, Texas.

Geminid Meteors over the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Tony Fuentes

Three small Geminid meteors streak through the evening sky over snow-capped mountains at Donner Pass, a mountain range in the northern Sierra Nevadas. Photographer Tony Fuentes captured this image during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower on Dec. 13.

Through the Branches

Jorge Colomer

Photographer Jorge Colomer captured this shot of a Geminid meteor over Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

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Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.