Posted on 12/17/2023 11:59:31 AM PST by MtnClimber
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.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
God’s fireworks display!
The fisheye lens gives it an interesting effect. It is centered on the horizon, so that appears straight. The meteor paths appear to curve downward however, as though they are falling due to gravity, when that is not the actual case. They go too fast for gravity to have any noticeable effect.
Wow.
One of the coolest meteor pictures I’ve seen.
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