Still a Mystery: Gemind Meteor Shower Peaks Dec. 13-14

Rock Comet Meteor Shower

Dec. 9, 2012:  Every year in mid-December, astronomers look up in the sky and witness a mystery. It announces itself with a flurry of shooting stars. For several nights in a row, dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour cut across the glistening constellations of winter, each one a little puzzle waiting to be solved.

"It's the Geminid meteor shower--set to peak on Dec. 13th and 14th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Although the Geminids come every year, we still don't fully understand them."

A ScienceCast video explores how a "rock comet" can produce a meteor shower like the Geminids. Play it

More - Link >>> http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/09dec_rockcomet/

Source: NASA Science News.

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