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Object Geminid Meteor Streaking Twards the Pleiades
Description

This is a photo of a Geminid meteor (fireball) streaking twards the Pleiades. Mars is in the lower left of the meteor.
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.

Image
Scope Canon 15mm fisheye f/2.8
Camera Canon 40D
Mount Tripod
Filters none
Guiding No guiding
Exposure Info Single 20 second exposure, iso 3200
Date December 14, 2007
Copyright Photo copyright Thomas Kerns, Beluga Lake Observatory