Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Геминиды над заснеженным лесом http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1946992/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Jakub Kuецk
Explanation:
Meteors have been flowing out from the
constellation Gemini.
This was expected, as mid-December is the time of the
Geminid Meteor Shower.
Pictured here, over two dozen meteors were caught in
successively added exposures taken over
several hours early Saturday morning from a
snowy forest in
Poland.
The
fleeting streaks
were bright enough to be seen over the din of the
nearly full Moon on the upper right.
These streaks can all be traced back to a point on the sky called the
radiant toward the bright stars
Pollux and Castor in the image center.
The Geminid meteors
started as sand sized bits expelled from asteroid
3200
Phaethon during its
elliptical orbit through the
inner Solar System.
Jigsaw Challenge:
Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.