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Credit & Copyright: Hongyang Luo
Explanation:
Where are all of these meteors coming from?
In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the
constellation
of Gemini.
That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the
Geminids --
because shower meteors all appear to come from a
radiant toward Gemini.
Three dimensionally, however,
sand-sized debris
expelled from the unusual asteroid
3200 Phaethon
follows a well-defined orbit about our Sun,
and the part of the orbit that approaches
Earth
is superposed in front of the
constellation of Gemini.
Therefore, when Earth
crosses this orbit, the
radiant point of
falling debris appears in Gemini.
Featured here is a composite of
many images taken a few days ago
through dark skies from Nianhu Lake in
China.
Over 100
bright meteor
streaks from the
Geminids meteor shower are visible.
APOD Year in Review (2023):
RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
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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 - meteor shower
Publications with words: Geminids - meteor shower
See also: