Explanation: Some beautiful things begin as grains of sand. Locked in an oyster, a granule grows into an iridescent pearl, lustrous and lovely to behold. While hurtling through the atmosphere at 35 kilometers per second, a generous cosmic sand grain becomes an awe-inspiring meteor, its transient beauty displayed for any who care to watch. This years Geminid meteor shower peaked last week with sky enthusiasts counting as many as 150 meteors per hour, despite the din of bright moon. Pictured above the Taftan volcano in southeast Iran, a meteor streaks between the bright star Sirius on the far left and the familiar constellation of Orion toward the image center. Sky watchers are looking forward to next years Geminids which should peak during a unobstructive new Moon.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: Geminids - meteor - meteor shower - Geminidy - Meteor - Meteornyi potok Publikacii so slovami: Geminids - meteor - meteor shower - Geminidy - Meteor - Meteornyi potok
Sm. takzhe: Geminidy nad zasnezhennym lesom Faeton i ego potomstvo Moshnyi meteornyi dozhd' 1833 goda Meteor i kometa Meteor ne popadaet v galaktiku Meteor nad Neapolitanskim zalivom Severnye Kvadrantidy Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>