                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 December 16

                                 The Geminid
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

   Explanation: Returning from beyond the Moon, on December 11 the Orion
   spacecraft entered Earth's atmosphere at almost 11 kilometers per
   second. That's half the speed of the grain of dust that created this
   long fireball meteor when it entered the atmosphere on December 13,
   near the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. As our fair planet
   makes its yearly pass through the dust trail of mysterious asteroid
   3200 Phaethon, the parallel tracks of all Geminid meteors appear to
   radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini. But the twin stars of
   Gemini hide just behind the trees on the left in this night skyscape
   from the beautiful Blue Moon Valley, Yunnan, China. Reflected in the
   still waters of the mountain lake, stars of the constellation Orion are
   rising near center. Captured before moonrise, dazzling Mars is still
   the brightest celestial beacon in the scene.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

