|
Credit & Copyright: Arman Golestaneh
Explanation:
Some beautiful things begin as grains of sand.
Locked in an oyster, a granule grows into an iridescent
pearl,
lustrous and lovely to behold.
While hurtling through the atmosphere at 35 kilometers
per second, a generous cosmic sand grain becomes an awe-inspiring meteor, its transient
beauty displayed for any who care to watch.
This years
Geminid meteor shower peaked
last week with sky enthusiasts counting as many as
150 meteors per hour, despite the din
of bright moon.
Pictured above the
Taftan volcano in southeast
Iran, a meteor streaks between the bright star
Sirius on the far left and the familiar constellation
of
Orion toward the image center.
Sky watchers are looking forward to
next
years Geminids
which should peak during a unobstructive new Moon.
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 - meteor shower
Publications with words: Geminids - meteor - meteor shower
See also:
- APOD: 2025 August 2 Á Fireflies, Meteors, and Milky Way
- APOD: 2025 July 25 Á Twelve Years of Kappa Cygnids
- APOD: 2025 July 23 Á Fireball over Cape San Blas
- APOD: 2024 December 15 Á Geminid Meteors over a Snowy Forest
- Phaethon s Brood
- APOD: 2024 December 10 Á The Great Meteor Storm of 1833
- APOD: 2024 November 27 Á The Meteor and the Comet