Jan
09

From Earth to the Solar System: Geminid meteor

METEOR MYSTERY: This fireball, caused by a Geminid meteor, is one of the largest ever recorded. Most meteor showers result from debris that that boils off a comet when it passes close to the Sun. When Earth passes through the debris, we see a meteor shower. The Geminids are different. Their source of meteors is not a comet, but a strange, rocky object thought to be either an asteroid or an extinct or dormant comet. When the Geminids were first observed in 1862, astronomers immediately began looking for a comet, to no avail. Finally in 1983, NASA’s Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) spotted a several kilometer-wide object in much the same orbit as the Geminid meteoroids, which they named 3200 Phaethon. The source of the Geminids continues to puzzle skywatchers and astronomers alike. Image Credit: Wally Pacholka/AstroPics.com

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Posted: 9 January 2012
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.