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, a composite of many images taken during the 2020
Geminids meteor shower shows over 200 bright meteors that streaked through the sky during the night December 14. The best
meteor shower in November, the
Leonids, peaks tonight and tomorrow.
Unfortunately, this year, dim meteors during the
early-morning peak will be hard
to see against a sky lit by a bright gibbous moon. Still, a few bright Leonid meteors should be visible each hour.
Evrim Ağacı
