Bengalurians are all set to witness the annual Geminids meteor shower.

What are meteor showers?

• Meteors are usually fragments of comets.
• As they enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, they burn up, creating a spectacular “shower”.
• Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from asteroids.
• When these objects come around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them.
• Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.

What makes the Geminids unique?

• Geminids is one of the brightest and most reliable annual meteor showers.
• They are unique because unlike most meteor showers, they originate not from a comet, but from an asteroid, the 3200 Phaethon.
• The 3200 Phaethon was discovered on October 11, 1983.
• It is named after the Greek mythology character Phaethon, son of the Sun God Helios.
• It takes 1.4 years to complete one round of the Sun.
• As the 3200 Phaethon moves close to the Sun while orbiting it, the rocks on its surface heat up and break off.
• When the Earth passes through the trail of this debris, the Geminids are caused.

Why are they called Geminids?

• That comes from the constellation Gemini, from whose location in the sky the meteor shower appears to originate.
• The constellation for which a meteor shower is named only serves to aid viewers in determining which shower they are viewing on a given night.
• The constellation is not the source of the meteors.

Back2Basics:

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now