Geminid Meteor near the Big Dipper

The meteors in the Geminid hower appear to come from a radiant in the constellation Gemini (hence the shower’s name). However, they can appear almost anywhere in the night sky, and often appear yellowish in hue. The meteors travel at medium speed in relation to other showers, at about 22 miles per second, making them fairly easy to spot.

The Geminids are not ordinary meteors. While most meteor showers come from comets, Geminids come from an asteroid�a near-Earth object named 3200 Phaethon.