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                           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   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          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,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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