APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5345
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Post by APOD Robot » Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:05 am

Image Gemini's Meteors

Explanation: From dark skies above Heilongjiang province in northeastern China, meteors rain down on a wintry landscape in this beautiful composited night scene. The 48 meteors are part of last week's annual Geminid meteor shower. Despite temperatures of -28 degrees C, all were recorded in camera exposures made during the peak hour of the celestial spectacle. They stream away from the shower's radiant high above the horizon near the two bright stars of the zodiacal constellation of the Twins. A very active shower, this year the December 13-14 peak of the Geminids arrived just before the December 16 closest approach of asteroid 3200 Phaethon to planet Earth. Mysterious 3200 Phaethon is the Geminid shower's likely parent body.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>
[/b]

FLPhotoCatcher
Science Officer
Posts: 243
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 6:51 am

Re: APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Post by FLPhotoCatcher » Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:48 am

Nice photo.
It's probably coincidence, but the meteors seem TOO evenly spaced. Randomness (as in a star field) always has areas of high numbers of stars, and areas of no of stars. At least that (and that it's Pareidolia) is what I'm told when I notice lines of stars in many photos of our galaxy's stars.

Boomer12k
:---[===] *
Posts: 2691
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:07 am

Re: APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Post by Boomer12k » Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:22 am

Nice shot.... cold.... BRRRRR... and I complain when it is 50F in the mobile home.... :lol2:

We are cloudy and bitter cold, and overcast... and if it were not overcast, I don't think I would get out....
:---[===] *

Cis Verbeeck

Re: APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Post by Cis Verbeeck » Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:18 am

Nice picture!
You can see the visual global activity profile of the Geminids 2017 on the website of the International Meteor Organization:
https://www.imo.net/members/imo_live_sh ... &year=2017

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18113
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Gemini's Meteors (2017 Dec 22)

Post by Chris Peterson » Fri Dec 22, 2017 4:03 pm

APOD Robot wrote:...all were recorded in camera exposures made during the peak hour of the celestial spectacle.
FWIW, the Geminid radiant moves about 13° in an hour.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

Post Reply