Capturing Shooting Stars

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Potential Geminid meteor captured by the radio antenna.
Potential Geminid meteor captured by the radio antenna.
Potential Geminid meteor captured by the radio antenna. It is fascinating to see a streak of light across the sky, and never more so than those times of the year when the meteors fall to earth in such a multitude that they look like sparkling rain. The Geminid shower is such an event. Our researchers observed such -shooting stars- falling from the sky at their peak in mid-December thanks to cameras newly installed on top of one of the university buildings. A meteor shower like the Geminids is unique because it is the debris from a comet that existed once upon a time. When a comet comes close to the Sun and is subjected to a lot of heat, it breaks up into pieces. These meteoroids orbit the Sun for a very long period.
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