Beautiful Debris

Ian Forsyth/Getty

In mid-December 2018, the 2018 Geminid meteor shower peaked in what was the best meteor shower of the year. See amazing photos of the 2018 Geminids in our photo gallery here. In This image, the Geminid meteor shower lit up the sky over Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, on Dec. 14, 2018.

Fire and Light

Ian Forsyth/Getty

Above a railway viaduct in Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, a single meteor from the Geminid meteor shower leaves a trail across the evening sky.

From a Rocky Passerby

Ian Forsyth/Getty

The Geminid meteor shower, originating from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, arrives each December.

Gracing the Desert

Ethan Miller/Getty

In the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, a long, bright meteor visits the Seven Sisters rock formation.

A Logical Name

Ethan Miller/Getty

Another meteor makes its way through the night sky. The annual meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini, from where the showers radiate.

Gorgeous Litter

Ethan Miller/Getty

The light show is the result of debris from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, some of which can be as small as a grain of sand.

geminids

Shen Zhang

The 2018 Geminid meteor shower, as seen from Sunnyvale, California.

A Geminid Google Doodle!

Google

Google celebrated the 2018 Geminid meteor shower peak with an adorable Google Doodle slideshow. Read the full story.

The Source of the Geminids

Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF

The Geminid meteor shower is made up of dusty bits from the near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which scientists have been studying for decades. Here, the asteroid is seen in a radar view from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon orbit

The orbit of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which passes around the sun once every 1.4 years. Though it is an asteroid, its elongated path is reminiscent of comets. The Geminid meteor shower comes every year when Earth passes through the debris left along the asteroid's path.

A Weird Meteor Source

Heather Roper/University of Arizona

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, the parent of the Geminids, is weird. Scientists have gone back on forth on whether Phaethon is an asteroid or comet. But one thing is certain: 3200 Phaethon is BLUE.