Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Southern Geminids

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 18, 2009 is “Southern Geminids,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit & Copyright: Phil Hart). The original explanation runs about 174 words.

Southern Geminids
Credit & Copyright: Phil Hart Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“At least 34 meteors are included in this composite image as they rain through Australian skies during the annual Geminid Meteor shower . Dust particles strung out along the orbit of extinct comet Phaethon vaporize when they plow through planet Earth’s atmosphere causing the impressive display.”

— APOD editors, December 18, 2009

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 18, 2009
Type
Image
Credit
Credit & Copyright: Phil Hart
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 174 words

All of December 2009 → · 2009 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

CometsMeteors

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 18 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.