Geminids, night of 14th-15th December 2022

[Rick]

After three nights of solid cloud, the skies cleared on the night of 14th-15th December 2022, and my Global Meteor Network camera caught these meteors between 17:48 and 06:50 UTC.


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Preliminary analysis identified 240 Geminids, 12 alpha Monocerids, 10 sigma Hydrids, 5 Comae Berenicids, 4 December sigma Virginids, and 32 sporadics.

[Rick]

This year, Global Meteor Network cameras sending results to UKMon captured over 30,000 matched trails (seen by more than one camera) from Geminid meteors, leading to 6620 solved trajectories. Here is a brief report from UKMon.

[Rick]

Geminid meteor shower spawned by violent asteroid smashup

Meteor showers usually come from comets, icy bodies sometimes called "dirty snowballs" that circle the solar system. The Geminid meteor shower, or Geminids, however, come from an asteroid or space rock known as 3200 Phaethon. Every December, the Earth runs through the dust stream left behind by Phaethon and the tiny grains provide a light show high in the atmosphere.

The Geminids, one of the best of the year, likely arose after 3200 Phaethon underwent "a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion, among other possibilities," NASA officials wrote on Wednesday (June 14 2023).

More: https://www.space.com/geminid-meteor-shower-asteroid-high-speed-collision