Awesome Photos! The Geminid Meteor Shower of 2018 in Pictures - Space.com

Fire and Light

Above a railway viaduct in Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, a single meteor from the Geminid meteor shower leaves a trail across the evening sky.

From a Rocky Passerby

The Geminid meteor shower, originating from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, arrives each December.

Gracing the Desert

In the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, a long, bright meteor visits the Seven Sisters rock formation.

A Logical Name

Another meteor makes its way through the night sky. The annual meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini, from where the showers radiate.

Gorgeous Litter

The light show is the result of debris from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, some of which can be as small as a grain of sand.

geminids

The 2018 Geminid meteor shower, as seen from Sunnyvale, California.

The Source of the Geminids

The Geminid meteor shower is made up of dusty bits from the near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which scientists have been studying for decades. Here, the asteroid is seen in a radar view from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon orbit

The orbit of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which passes around the sun once every 1.4 years. Though it is an asteroid, its elongated path is reminiscent of comets. The Geminid meteor shower comes every year when Earth passes through the debris left along the asteroid's path.

Thursday–Friday, Dec. 13–14, midnight to dawn — Geminids Meteor Shower Peak

The Geminids meteor shower, one of the most spectacular of the year, runs from December 4 to 16 annually. In 2018, it will peak before dawn on Friday, December 14, when up to 120 meteors per hour are possible to see under dark sky conditions. Geminids meteors are often bright, intensely colored, and slower moving than average because they are produced by particles dropped by an asteroid designated 3200 Phaethon. The best time to watch for Geminids will be sunset on Wednesday until dawn on Thursday morning. At about 2 a.m. local time, the sky overhead will be plowing into the densest part of the debris field. The early-setting crescent moon on the peak night will provide a dark sky for meteor-watchers.

Geminid meteor shower radiant

Geminid meteors appear to diverge from a single spot in the sky, called the radiant, located in the constellation Gemini. But you'll see as many as possible if you lean back and take in the whole sky — they can appear anywhere across the sky, traveling away from that point.

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