The Geminids are a prolific

meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...

caused by the object

3200 Phaethon 3200 Phaethon (previously sometimes spelled Phaeton), provisional designation , is an active Apollo asteroid with an orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid (though there are numerous unnamed asteroids with smaller ...

, which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid with a " rock comet" orbit. This would make the Geminids, together with the

Quadrantids The Quadrantids (QUA) are a meteor shower that peaks in early January and whose radiant lies in the constellation Boötes. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich meteor showers, the Persei ...

, the only major meteor showers not originating from a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

. The

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

s from this shower are slow moving, can be seen in December and usually peak around December 4–16, with the date of highest intensity being the morning of December 14. The shower is thought to be intensifying every year and recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, generally around 02:00 to 03:00 local time. Geminids were first observed in 1862, much more recently than other showers such as the

Perseids The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus. Etymology The name ...

(36 AD) and

Leonids The Leonids ( ) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle, which are also known for their spectacular meteor storms that occur about every 33 years. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant i ...

(902 AD).

Radiant

The meteors in this shower appear to come from the radiant in the constellation

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...

(hence the shower's name). However, they can appear almost anywhere in the night sky, and often appear yellowish in hue. Well north of the equator, the radiant rises about sunset, reaching a usable elevation from the local evening hours onwards. In the southern hemisphere, the radiant appears only around local midnight or so. Observers in the northern hemisphere will see higher Geminid rates as the radiant is higher in the sky. The meteors travel at medium speed in relation to other showers, at about , making them fairly easy to spot. The Geminids are now considered by many to be the most consistent and active annual shower. Geminids disintegrate while at heights above . Meteor falling courtesy NASA

References

External links

Viewing details for the 2015 Geminids Meteor Shower

* NASA Meteor Watch 2012: *
Allsky cameras observed 328 bright Geminids - notice how similar they are to the orbit of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon (purple orbit)
*
Composite view of meteors detected in the skies over Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
*
Spectacular Geminid, brighter than the Full Moon
(video 2012-Dec-14 07:28 UT) *
Meteoroid Environment Office: 53 meteor orbits last night of which 18 were Geminids

*

" NASA, 7 December 2001 * Google group search fo
Geminids
sorted by date
Amateur observations of the Geminids

Triangulation of a Geminid Meteor by Crayford Manor House AS

ScienceCasts: Rock Comet Meteor Shower
(Science@NASA YouTube channel : Nov 29, 2012)
Geminids at Constellation Guide
* {{Meteor showers Meteor showers December events

Radiant

See also

References

External links