Sky Notes · Monthly sky · Dec 2026

The night sky over Hyderabad: December 2026

The Geminid meteor shower under dark skies, Saturn high in the evening, Jupiter and Mars rising in Leo, and Venus before dawn.

By Bhanu Prakash, astronomer · Hyderabad

Highlights

• 13–14 Dec: Geminid meteor shower peak, with a thin Moon that sets early. One of the best showers of the year.
• 9 Dec: New Moon. The week around it is the darkest of the month.
• 21–22 Dec: December solstice, the longest night of the year.
• 24 Dec: Full Moon.

Geminids: the shower to watch this year

The Geminids peak on the night of 13–14 December. This year the Moon is new on 9 December, so on peak night only a thin crescent is up in the early evening and it sets soon after. That leaves dark skies for most of the night. The meteors appear to come from near the bright star Castor in Gemini, which rises in the north-east in the evening and climbs high after midnight, when rates are best.

Lie back, face east or straight up, and give it at least half an hour. A dark site away from Hyderabad’s lights makes a huge difference.

Planets this month

Saturn is the evening planet. It is already up at sunset and highest in the south at about 7 PM, setting around midnight. A small telescope shows its rings.

Jupiter and Mars rise late in the evening, between about 11 PM and midnight, close together in the constellation Leo near its brightest star, Regulus. By dawn both are almost overhead. Jupiter is much the brighter of the two.

Venus is the brilliant morning star, low in the south-east before sunrise from about 4 AM.

Also up

Orion rises in the east by about 8 PM and climbs through the night, bringing the Orion Nebula with it. Early in the evening, look north for the W of Cassiopeia.

Times are for Hyderabad and rounded to the nearest few minutes. Planet positions are calculated on this site and are good to about a degree. Check the Tonight’s Sky panel for any night.