智利上空的双子座流星
2019 December 8 Geminid Meteors over Chile Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN) Explanation: Are meteors streaming out from a point in the sky? Yes, in a way. When the Earth crosses a stream of Sun-orbiting meteors, these meteors appear to come from the direction of the stream — with the directional point called the radiant. An example occurs every mid-December for the Geminids meteor shower, as apparent in the featured image. Recorded near the shower’s peak in 2013, the featured skyscape captures Gemini’s shooting stars in a four-hour composite from the dark skies of the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In the foreground the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope is visible as well as the 1-meter SWOPE telescope. The skies…