Whether morning or evening, stargazers in Namibia are in for a treat in December. In the mornings, the Geminids provide a spectacular display of shooting stars, while in the evenings, two comets await discovery. And on 5 December, there will be a 'supermoon' again.
Centre of the Geminid meteor shower below Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini: The morning sky on 14 December 2025 at 5.00 am, as seen from Windhoek, looking northwest. Image: Screenshot of interactive star chart on TimeAndDate.com
The Geminids are a meteor shower whose centre is located near the constellation Gemini. Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids are not caused by small fragments of a comet. Instead, the Earth crosses the debris trail of an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon.
On 13 and 14 December the Earth will cross the centre of its trail. At that time, up to 150 meteoroids per hour can be observed burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. The centre of the meteor shower area in the sky will not rise until around 10.00 pm (times are for Windhoek) and is therefore best observed in the early morning.
Saturn (to the left of Neptune) and comets C2025 R2 (SWAN) and C2025 K1 (ATLAS): The evening sky on 15 December 2025 at 9.05 pm, as seen from Windhoek, looking north-northwest. Image: Screenshot of interactive star chart on TimeAndDate.com
The highlights of the evening sky are comets C2025 R2 (SWAN) and C2025 K1 (ATLAS). They should be visible to the naked eye from shortly after 9.00 pm (all times are for December 15th and Windhoek; see TimeAndDate.com).
Saturn is located diagonally to the left above C2025 R2 (SWAN), and Neptune is to its right, visible only with a telescope. Both planets will set around 1.00 am. Jupiter, which rises at 9.30 pm, heralds the Geminid meteor shower, as it is also located in the constellation Gemini.
Mercury, Venus, and Mars, on the other hand, are barely visible, if at all. From Earth's perspective, they are very close to the sun, meaning they rise and set practically with it. Mercury might be glimpsed low in the east shortly after 5.00 am, before fading into the dawn.
A 'supermoon' occurs when the Moon is particularly close to Earth during a full moon. Its orbit is not a circle, but an ellipse.
This year, the Moon made its closest approach to Earth on 6 November, at a distance of approximately 356,800 kilometres (see TimeAndDate.com). It will reach its second closest point on 4 December, at a distance of nearly 357,000 kilometres.
The Moon will be farthest from Earth on 20 November, at a distance of around 406,700 kilometres. At its closest point, the Moon appears 13 to 14 percent larger from Earth than at its farthest point.
Therefore, we can enjoy a 'supermoon' again on 5 December – although not quite as 'super' as the one on 5 November. For the next two supermoons, by the way, we will have to wait until December 2026 and January 2027 (see TimeAndDate.com).
Sunrise on 1 December is at 5.58 am, sunset around 7.23 pm, resulting in 13 hours and 25 minutes of daylight. The days with the longest daylight (13:31:21) will be 21 and 22 December (summer solstice) with sunrise at 6.04 am and sunset at 7.35 pm.
After the summer solstice, the days become shorter again. On 31 December, the sun rises at around 6.09 am and sets at around 7.39 pm, which means 13 hours and 30 minutes of daylight (see Timeanddate.com).
The phases of the moon in December: full moon 5 December, last quarter 11 December, new moon 20 December, first quarter 27 December. For observing the stars and planets the moonlight will therefore be the least disturbing at the middle to the end of December.
You can also find out more about the Namibian starry sky in the Astro News by Lutz von Dewitz in the news section on the website of the Namibia Scientific Society.
Sven-Eric Stender