Stargazing Challenges - December 2025
- 24th Nov 2025
- Author: Dhara Patel
Each month, we'll be sharing a trio of stargazing challenges for you to try your hand at.
This December, head out to spot the final Supermoon of the year, catch some meteors during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower and try looking for Orion's Belt - an easily recognisable pattern of stars found in the constellation of Orion.
Challenge 1 - Supermoon
On 4 December, can you spot the Supermoon?
The final full moon of this month will be a supermoon - so if you missed the chance to spot the moon in its glory in November, don't worry as you're in luck with this additional opportunity. Look towards the east from around 17:00 on 4 December to catch the final supermoon of 2025.
The Moon will be rising above the horizon as the Sun begins to set on the opposite side of the sky, and compared to an average full moon it will appear slightly bigger and brighter. The moon will rise higher culminating in the south around midnight before continuing to move westwards where it will set the following morning.
Because the Moon is so easily visible, all you need is your eyes (and clear skies) to enjoy the spectacular view. If you have binoculars or a telescope to hand, you'll be able to pick out more details like the dark mare or large craters, though it can be useful to use a moon filter on your optics to make viewing more comfortable with the Moon being particularly bright.
What causes a Supermoon?
Supermoons happen roughly three to four times a year and occur because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle. On average the Moon is 384,000 kilometres from Earth, but its elliptical orbit brings it closer and further from our planet.
And when its closest approach coincides with a full moon we get a supermoon. It can appear 30% brighter and 14% larger than when at its furthest point. And while the size difference isn’t easily detectable, its increased brightness will be!
The technical term is a perigee-syzygy of the Sun-Earth-Moon system. Syzygy means the three bodies are in a straight-line configuration and perigee is when the Moon is at its closest distance to Earth.
‘Supermoon’ though, isn’t an official astronomical term – it was actually coined by an astrologer named Richard Nolle, in 1979. Whilst there is no set definition for how close the Moon needs to be to qualify it as a supermoon, he defined it as a full moon that occurs when it is within roughly 90% of its closest approach to Earth in its orbit (less than 360,000 kilometres away from us).
Compared to December, November's full moon was slightly closer to the Earth making it the best supermoon of 2025, but it proved to be cloudy for many viewers in the UK. So fingers crossed for more favourable weather in this month.
Challenge 2: Geminids
On 14 December, are you able to catch the peak of the Geminids?
Head out just before midnight on 13 December to spot some meteors from the Geminid meteor shower. The meteors will appear to streak across the sky from a point in the constellation of Gemini which will lie in the southeast at midnight.
Face this direction but look all over the sky to try and catch the fast-moving shooting stars. Be patient though, as they won't appear in a steady stream but rather chaotically - sometimes a few in close succession and then nothing for a few minutes. And they'll appear in all different directions, so it's a bit like playing whack-a-mole, if you look away you might miss it!
Throughout the year, it’s possible to catch an odd meteor shooting across the sky – these sporadic meteors aren't predictable. But there a a number of meteor showers that occur like clockwork where a number of shooting stars can create a truly memorable experience. The Geminids are arguably the best meteor shower of the year - in ideal conditions, you could spot up to 150 meteors per hour!
Whilst most people would assume that telescopes and binoculars make stargazing even better, on this occasion, it’s the opposite. Because the meteors will streak brightly but disappear in an instance, you want to be able to scan as much of the sky as quickly as possible and our eyes are the best tool for the task!
Find out more about how to best plan a meteor-gazing evening in our blog: Geminid Meteor Shower 2025, and learn why the meteor shower occurs annually.
Challenge 3 - Orion's Belt
Are you able to find Orion's Belt on 26 December?
As we head into winter, one of the most prominent winter constellations begins to grace us with its presence at a reasonable time in the evening – Orion the Hunter. Although visible throughout the month, head out around 20:30 on Boxing Day and look to the southeast. Just above the horizon you may notice several bright stars including Betelgeuse (an orangish coloured star) and Rigel (a blue-white coloured star) making up the warrior with his sword and shield.
Lying towards the centre of this constellation is an easily identifiable pattern of three stars in a line – Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Together they make up an asterism or familiar star pattern visible to the naked eye called Orion’s Belt. Can you spot it?
Once you spot this, you’ll always be looking out for it. And as we head into next year, we’ll share how this simple star pattern can help guide you to a number of different stars and constellations – you’ll be a pro at navigating around the sky using the stars in no time!
Despite appearing so linear and close together, these three stars are all at differing distances. Alnilam in the middle is about 2,000 light years away while the other two are around 1,200 light years away. Rather unexpectedly, the two stars on either end of the ‘belt’ that appear furthest from each other (Alnitak and Mintaka) are actually closest together in the three dimensional space of our galaxy.
How did you get on? Were you able to spot our stargazing highlights this month?
If you enjoyed putting your stargazing skills to the test, then keep a look out for the astronomy challenges we'll be sharing each month. And don't forget to share your photos with us using #NSCstargazers
And find out what else you can see this month with our 'What's in the Night Sky' video.
Full references / credits:
(Banner) Skyscape. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1a) Supermoon on 4 December. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1b) Supermoon and Micromoon. Credit: © National Space Centre
(2) Geminids on 14 December. Credit: © National Space Centre
(3) Orion's Belt on 26 December. Credit: © National Space Centre
