Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                              2021 December 16
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                            Geminids of the South
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Fefo Bouvier

   Explanation: Fireflies flash along a moonlit countryside in this scene
   taken on the night of December 13/14 from southern Uruguay, planet
   Earth. On that night meteors fell in the partly cloudy skies above
   during the [5]annual Geminid meteor shower. Frames recorded over a
   period of 1.5 hours are aligned in the composite image made with the
   camera facing south. That direction was opposite the shower's radiant
   toward the north and so the [6]Geminid meteor streaks appear to
   converge at an antiradiant below the southern horizon. The shower's
   apparent radiant (and [7]antiradiant) is just due to perspective
   though. As Earth sweeps through the dust trail of [8]mysterious
   asteroid 3200 Phaethon, the dust grains that create the Geminid shower
   meteors are really moving along parallel tracks. They enter Earth's
   atmosphere traveling at about 22 kilometers per second.

                  Tomorrow's picture: Geminids of the North
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    Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([23]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply.
              [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC
                           & [29]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2112/geminids_2021_fefo_bouvier.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.fefobouvier.com/
   5. https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2021/12/09/geminid-meteor-shower-nasa-to-livestream-annual-highlight-of-december-skies/
   6. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-geminid-meteor-shower/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200318.html
   8. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-nrl-camera-aboard-nasa-spacecraft-asteroid.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211215.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211216
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211217.html
  20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  29. http://www.mtu.edu/