The Geminids are a meteor shower caused by an object named 3200 Phaethon, which is thought to be an extinct comet. The meteors from this shower can seen in mid-December and usually peak around 12-14 December. The Geminid shower is thought to be intensifying every year and recent showers have seen 120-160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions. The Gemininds were first observed only 150 years ago, much more recently than other showers such as the Perseids and Leonids. Leonid Meteor Shower From earliest times, humankind has noticed flurries of meteors that seemed to emanate from particular points in the sky at particular times of the year. ... 3200 Phaethon (sometimes incorrectly spelled Phaeton) is an Apollo and Mercury-, Venus- and Mars_crosser asteroid with unusual properties, and may be an extinct comet. ... Comet Hale-Bopp For other uses, see Comet (disambiguation). ... The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. ... 1966 Leonid Meteor Shower The Leonids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. ...

The meteors in this shower appear to radiate from 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 now considered by many to be the most consistent and active annual shower. In 2005, viewing of the shower was restricted due to a full moon washing out the fainter meteors. This year's viewing (that is, 2006) should be better, although still somewhat restricted by the moon. Gemini (Latin for twins, symbol , Unicode ♊) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ... The Galileo spacecraft took this composite image on 7 December 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-97. ...

See also

• Meteor showers
• List of meteor showers

Leonid Meteor Shower From earliest times, humankind has noticed flurries of meteors that seemed to emanate from particular points in the sky at particular times of the year. ... External links ALPO meteor showers list SPA meteor showers list Categories: Meteor showers ...

External links

• International Meteor Organization's Meteor Calendar
• 2004 Geminids
• Geminids 2002
• "Weird Geminids," NASA, 7 December 2001
• Google group search for Geminids, sorted by date