Posted on 12/17/2015 12:18:25 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Earth's annual Geminid meteor shower did not disappoint, peaking before dawn on December 14 as our fair planet plowed through dust from active asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Captured in this southern hemisphere nightscape the meteors stream away from the shower's radiant in Gemini. To create the image, many individual frames recording meteor streaks were taken over period of 5 hours. In the final composite they were selected and registered against the starry sky above the twin 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes of Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Rigel in Orion, and Sirius shine brightly as the Milky Way stretches toward the zenith. Near Castor and Pollux the twin stars of Gemini, the meteor shower's radiant is low, close to the horizon. The radiant effect is due to perspective as the parallel meteor tracks appear to converge in the distance. Gemini's meteors enter Earth's atmosphere traveling at about 22 kilometers per second.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN)]
http://129.164.179.22/apod/image/1512/geminids2015_beletsky_labels.jpg
http://129.164.179.22/apod/image/1512/geminids2015_beletsky.jpg
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=3373638%2C0
Nice shot, thanks. I was watching some old NASA Skylab releases today. Even with all that was happening at that time, the Space Program could always give me a bit of Hope for our better future.
:’) Too bad NASA thought the STS was such a great idea that there was no plan B for getting back up to Skylab to do what was needed to keep it in orbit.
“It is categorized as an Apollo asteroid, as its semi-major axis is greater than that of the Earth’s and its perihelion is less than 1.017 AU [apprx 93,000,000 mi]. It is also suspected to be a member of the Pallas family of asteroids.[3]
Phaethon’s most remarkable distinction is that it approaches the Sun closer than any other named asteroid: its perihelion is only 0.140 AU (13,000,000 mi) — less than half of Mercury’s perihelion distance. It is a Mercury-, Venus-, Earth-, and Mars-crosser as a result of its high orbital eccentricity. The surface temperature at perihelion could reach around 1,025 K (750 deg C; 1,390 deg F).
Phaethon is an asteroid with fairly unusual characteristics in that its orbit more closely resembles that of a comet than an asteroid; it has been referred to as a “rock comet”.[4] In recent studies performed by NASA’s STEREO spacecraft, dust tails have been observed,[5] and in 2010 Phaethon was detected ejecting dust.[6] It is possible that the Sun’s heat is causing fractures similar to mudcracks in a dry lake bed.[6]
Phaethon’s composition fits the notion of its cometary origin; it is classified as a B-type asteroid because it is composed of dark material. Since its discovery, several other objects were found exhibiting mixed cometary and asteroidal features, such as 133P/Elst-Pizarro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3200_Phaethon#Orbital_characteristics
Explanation: Earth’s annual Geminid meteor shower did not disappoint, peaking before dawn on December 14 as our fair planet plowed through dust from active asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
So many seemingly missed chances. Who knows what beautiful horizons are just over the .... .. .. . ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day — When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3371946/posts
Good tag.
Over 3 miles long, 1/8th mile wide, Phaethon 3200 could gouge out a nice hole, oh yeah, and destroy civilization, while ending most species including 99% of humanity, y’know, give or take not hitting on land. :’)
:’) Thanks!
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