                        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 25

                          Geminids and the Mittens
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Derus

   Explanation: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon's annual gift to planet Earth
   always arrives in December. Otherwise known as the Geminid meteor
   shower, the source of the meteroid stream is dust shed along the orbit
   of the mysterious asteroid. Near the December 13/14 peak of the
   shower's activity, geminid meteors are captured in this night skyscape,
   composited from 22 images of starry sky taken before the moon rose over
   Monument Valley in the American southwest. The bright stars near the
   position of the shower's radiant are the constellation Gemini's twin
   stars Castor (blue) and Pollux (yellow). As Earth sweeps through the
   dusty stream, the parallel meteor trails appear to radiate from a point
   on the sky in Gemini due to perspective, and so the yearly shower is
   named for the constellation. From the camera's perspective, this view
   of three prominent buttes across Monument Valley also suggests
   appropriate names for two of them. The third one is called Merrick
   Butte.

                    Tomorrow's picture: the dragon's egg
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