Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 December 13 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Full Moon Geminids Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Juan Carlos Casado ([5]TWAN) Explanation: [6]The dependable annual Geminid meteor shower will be near its peak tonight (December 13/14) and before tomorrow's dawn. As Earth crosses through the [7]dusty trail of active asteroid 3200 Phaethon the meteors will flash through the sky from the shower's radiant in Gemini. Gemini will be pretty easy for skygazers to find too as it won't be far from a nearly full waning gibbous Moon. You don't have look at the shower's radiant to see meteors though. The almost full moonlight won't hide the brightest of the Geminids from view either, but it will substantially reduce the rate of visible meteors for those who are counting. [8]In fact, the 2019 Geminids should look a lot like the 2016 meteor shower This composite image from the 2016 Geminids aligns individual short exposures to capture many of the brighter Geminid meteors, inspite of a Full Moon shining near the constellation of the Twins. Along the horizon are the Teide Observatory's Solar Laboratory (right) and the [9]Teide volcano on the Canary Island of Tenerife. Tomorrow's picture: moonlight weekend __________________________________________________________________ [10]< | [11]Archive | [12]Submissions | [13]Index | [14]Search | [15]Calendar | [16]RSS | [17]Education | [18]About APOD | [19]Discuss | [20]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [21]Robert Nemiroff ([22]MTU) & [23]Jerry Bonnell ([24]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [25]Specific rights apply. [26]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [27]ASD at [28]NASA / [29]GSFC & [30]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1912/gem16otjcc2500.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. http://www.twanight.org/casado 5. http://www.twanight.org/ 6. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-geminid-meteor-shower 7. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-nrl-camera-aboard-nasa-spacecraft-asteroid.html 8. https://amsmeteors.org/2019/12/viewing-the-geminid-meteor-shower-in-2019/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190609.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191212.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 14. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 19. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191213 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191214.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 24. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 27. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 30. http://www.mtu.edu/