{"id":291260,"date":"2023-12-14T15:35:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=291260"},"modified":"2023-12-14T15:35:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:35:09","slug":"the-geminids-are-still-a-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=291260","title":{"rendered":"The Geminids are Still a\u00a0Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By DR.TONY PHILLIPS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec. 13, 2023:<\/strong> (Spaceweather.com<\/a>): Every great mystery novel has an unexpected twist. Apparently the same is true of meteor showers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A paper published in the Planetary Science Journal<\/a> reports a surprising new twist in the mystery of the Geminids, a strong annual meteor shower that has puzzled astronomers for more than a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work has upended years of belief about 3200 Phaethon, the source of the Geminids,\u201d says co-author Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab. \u201cIt\u2019s not what we thought it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above: Geminids over the\u00a0Czech Republic\u00a0in 2018. Credit: Petr Hor\u00e1lek<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Geminids peak every year in mid-December, scattering hundreds of bright meteors across northern winter skies. Numerically it is the best meteor shower of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As meteor showers go, Geminids are newcomers. They first appeared in the mid-1800s when an unknown stream of debris crossed Earth\u2019s orbit.  Surprised, 19th century astronomers scoured the sky for the parent comet, but they found nothing. The search would continue for another 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter NASA. In 1983, the space agency\u2019s Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) found an object now called \u201c3200 Phaethon.\u201d It was definitely the source of the Geminids. The orbit of 3200 Phaethon was such a close match to that of the Geminid debris stream, no other conclusion was possible. Yet here was a puzzler: 3200 Phaethon appeared to be a rocky asteroid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above: An artist\u2019s concept of 3200 Phaethon<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asteroids are not supposed to make meteor showers. Unlike comets, they don\u2019t have tails and they don\u2019t spew meteoroids. Yet 3200 Phaethon was different. In 2009 and 2012, NASA\u2019s STEREO spacecraft caught 3200 Phaethon sprouting a tail when it passed close to the sun. Apparently, intense solar radiation was blistering meteoroids off 3200 Phaethon\u2019s rocky surface. Astronomers dubbed it a \u201crock comet,\u201d and the mystery was solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astronomer Qicheng Zhang, lead author of the new paper, was never convinced. For one thing, the Geminid debris stream is massive (1013<\/sup> kg), while the tail of 3200 Phaethon is puny, providing less than 1% of the mass required to explain the Geminids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tail we see today could never supply enough dust to supply the Geminid meteor shower,\u201d says Zhang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhang, Battams, and colleagues decided to take a closer look. Using coronagraphs on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), they monitored Phaethon as it passed by the sun in 2022. Color filters on the spacecraft revealed no dust or rock. Instead, Phaethon\u2019s tail is made of sodium gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above: SOHO\u2019s orange-filtered view (left), which can detect sodium, shows asteroid 3200 Phaethon glowing brightly.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And therein lies the twist. Meteor showers are made of meteoroids, not gas. Suddenly, the Geminids are a mystery again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re back to square one,\u201d says Zhang. \u201cWhere do the Geminids come from?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3200 Phaethon is still the main suspect. At least one study suggests that Geminid meteoroids are 1,000 to 10,000 years old. Perhaps something hit the asteroid millennia ago. Phaethon\u2019s rapid rotation makes it susceptible to sudden episodes of mass loss, so even a relatively small impact could create the necessary meteoroids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to test this idea is to look at the surface of Phaethon with a space probe. Japan plans to do just that. JAXA is building a spacecraft called DESTINY+<\/a> to fly by 3200 Phaethon for a closer look. Launch is scheduled for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until then, the Geminids remain a beautiful mystery. Look for them streaking across the night sky this week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A paper published in the\u00a0Planetary Science Journal\u00a0reports a surprising new twist in the mystery of the Geminids, a strong annual meteor shower that has puzzled astronomers for more than a century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":291262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A paper published in the\u00a0Planetary Science Journal\u00a0reports a surprising new twist in the mystery of the Geminids, a strong annual meteor shower that has puzzled astronomers for more than a century.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691825323,691825320,691825321,691825322],"class_list":{"0":"post-291260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-3200-phaethon","9":"tag-geminids","10":"tag-meteor-shower","11":"tag-solar-and-heliospheric-observatory-soho","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0nomoon2_crop.webp?fit=1024%2C969&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1dLK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":201638,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=201638","url_meta":{"origin":291260,"position":0},"title":"The Tau Herculid Meteor Shower \u2014 Possible Outburst","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"May 25, 2022:\u00a0In late 1995, Comet 73P\/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 exploded. 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