Origin of Geminids meteor shower revealed! NASA Parker Solar Probe unearths BIG mystery

The Geminids meteor shower is one of the most spectacular sightings of the year; but how did it originate? A new study, conducted with the help of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has shed light on this.

The Geminids shower originates from the debris of asteroid 3200 Phaethon. (Jeff Dai/TWAN/NASA)

The Geminids meteor shower is one of the most spectacular meteor showers that occurs annually. For the unaware, meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from asteroids. While asteroids can be found in space in their own orbits, they leave behind debris trails consisting of meteors. As Earth revolves around the Sun, it passes through these clouds which allows the rocky bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky. Although it has been known that the Geminids originate from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission has shed new light on the unusual origin of this meteor shower.

What are Geminids?

The meteor shower is termed the Geminid Meteor Shower because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Gemini. This constellation does not appear very high above the horizon in the Southern Hemisphere, resulting in viewers only seeing approximately 25% of the shower seen in the Northern Hemisphere which is between 7-10 meteors per hour. The Geminids shower originates from the debris of 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid.

Origin of Geminids

While most meteor showers originate from comets as they melt due to Sun's heat, leaving behind trails in their wake, the Geminids originate from an asteroid that is not affected by the Sun.

Jamey Szalay, a research scholar at Princeton University and author of the study said, “What's really weird is that we know that Phaethon is an asteroid, but as it flies by the Sun, it seems to have some kind of temperature-driven activity. Most asteroids don't do that.”

Using the flight path of the Parker Solar Probe, scientists were able to get a look at the dust grains shed by passing comets and asteroids. This data was then used to model three possible formation scenarios, and then compared these models to existing models created from Earth-based observations, according to a research paper published in the Planetary Science Journal.

Scientists found that the data was consistent with the most violent models. It means that the Geminids formed as a result of a high-speed collision of the asteroid with another body, or perhaps a gaseous explosion. This resulted in the creation of one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year.