The Geminids meteor shower is currently unfolding across the night sky for this time of the year, ending 2022 with an impressive celestial spectacle. Andrew Potter, an amateur astronomer who lives in the Canadian city of Saskatoon, is also the lucky person who spotted a meteor accidentally.
Andrew was only looking at Mars when a meteor started to hurtle across his field of view. Thanks to his smartphone, he managed to capture photos of the impressive meteor doing its thing across the skies.
Out on the deck, phone out, and a meteor flew by east of YXE pic.twitter.com/8q4zrpxJEC
— Andy Potter (@aap53) December 16, 2022
Andrew also didn’t hesitate to describe his experience by stating, as CBC News quotes:
There was no sound at all associated with it — it was just a very bright flash,
I’ve seen a lot of meteors over time and this was probably one of the brightest I’ve ever seen.
Peter Brown, who’s a professor at Western University in the department of physics and astronomy, explained, as the same source mentioned above quotes:
At this time of the year, if it’s clear outside, it actually isn’t all that unusual for a person walking down the street to see a pretty bright meteor or a fireball, particularly from the Geminids.
The Geminids meteor shower is expected to last until December 24, and it can produce up to 100 meteors per hour. 3200 Phaethon, which is a Palladian asteroid that features a “rock comet” orbit, is the cosmic object to blame for the occurrence of the Geminids meteor shower.
The Geminids were discovered over 150 years ago, in 1862. It’s indeed worth keeping your eyes peeled on the night sky, as even more meteors and fireballs could emerge!
While all fireballs are meteors, not all meteors can be considered fireballs. That’s because a meteor needs to reach a certain level of brightness in order to be considered a fireball.
