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Credit & Copyright: David Cruz
Explanation:
Jupiter,
the Solar System's ruling gas giant, is the brightest celestial
beacon at the center of this
composite night
skyscape.
The scene was constructed by selecting the 40 exposures containing meteors
from about 500 exposures made on the nights of December 13 and 14,
near peak activity for this year's annual
Geminid
meteor shower.
With each selected exposure registered in the night sky
above Alentejo, Portugal, planet Earth, it does look like the
meteors are streaming away from Jupiter.
But the apparent radiant of the Geminid meteors is actually
closer to bright star Castor, in the shower's eponymous
constellation Gemini.
In this frame that's just a little above and left
of the Solar System's most massive planet.
Still, the parent body
of Geminid meteors is known to be rocky,
near-Earth
asteroid
3200 Phaethon.
And the orbit of
Phaethon
itself
is influenced by the gravitational attraction exerted by massive Jupiter,
in concert
with planets of the inner Solar System.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Geminids
Publications with words: Geminids
See also: