The Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend. Here’s how it originates.
Let us bear in mind that a spectacular shooting star actually consists of a small piece of space rock that burns up as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.
When they come together, these objects form what we call a meteor shower.
Scientists have known since the mid-19th century that almost all meteor showers are born from icy comets.
When one of these “visitors” from space enters the inner part of the solar system, heat from the sun causes the ice on the comet’s surface to turn from ice to gas, in a process called sublimation.
It is this process that produces the beautiful comet tail that we see, explains
As the ice vaporizes, the comet releases dust: particles the size of grains of sand and even some boulder-sized pieces of stone that are left behind in their wake. On each orbit, this process creates a debris flow along the comet’s path that persists for a long time.
E on Mars there are also meteor showers. But this planet sees different displays based on the trajectories of the comets it passes through.
Each major meteor shower has different curfews of your shooting stars. Some, like the Lyrids, in April, record rates of around 15 to 20 meteors per hour. The ones now, the ones December Geminids, they reach 60 to 70.
The best way to observe a meteor shower is head to darker rural areasaway from light pollution. Allow your eyes to adapt to the darkness and enjoy.
