The Phoenicids are a minor

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 extr ...

, first noticed by observers in New Zealand, Australia, the Indian Ocean, and South Africa during an outburst of approximately 100 meteors an hour that occurred during December 1956. Like other meteor showers, the Phoenicids get their name from the location of their

radiant Radiant may refer to: Computers, software, and video games * Radiant (software), a content management system * GtkRadiant, a level editor created by id Software for their games * Radiant AI, a technology developed by Bethesda Softworks for '' ...

, which is in the constellation Phoenix. They are active from 29 November to 9 December, with a peak occurring around 5/6 December each year, and are best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. The Phoenicids appear to be associated with a stream of material from the disintegrating comet

D/1819 W1 (Blanpain) 289P/Blanpain, formerly D/1819 W1 (Blanpain) is a short-period comet that was discovered by Jean-Jacques Blanpain on November 28, 1819. Blanpain described the comet as having a "very small and confused nucleus". Another independent discovery was ...

. A very minor meteor shower with a radiant in Phoenix also occurs in July; this shower is referred to as the July Phoenicids.

References

{{Meteor showers Meteor showers July events November events December events