                        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.

                              2023 December 17
     Two people are pictured from the back looking at a dark star-filled
     sky. The sky is also filled with numerous streaks caused by meteors
    from the Geminids meteor shower. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                      Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Hongyang Luo

   Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of
   direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of
   Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the
   Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant
   toward Gemini. Three dimensionally, however, sand-sized debris expelled
   from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethon follows a well-defined orbit
   about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is
   superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini. Therefore, when
   Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears
   in Gemini. Featured here is a composite of many images taken a few days
   ago through dark skies from Nianhu Lake in China. Over 100 bright
   meteor streaks from the Geminids meteor shower are visible.

         APOD Year in Review (2023): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
                     Tomorrow's picture: the same color
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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