Jewitt-Li GeminidPHOTONEWS

Colorful geminid over the peak of mount Teide. Credit: Juan Carlos Casado/IAC.
Colorful geminid over the peak of mount Teide. Credit: Juan Carlos Casado/IAC.
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This image was obtained during December 12 small hours, from Teide Observatory (IAC). It shows a colorful geminid over the peak of mount Teide. Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, that emerges 7.500m from the bottom of the sea, belongs to its National Park, which is World Heritage. Although meteors normally last less than a second in the sky, cameras are able to catch a chromatic spectrum of color as the meteor advances through the atmosphere. Colors show the meteoroid composition -grains of dust originally ejected from asteroid 3200 Phaethon- as well as atmospheric composition (oxygen and nitrogen).

The geminid is dedicated to researchers Jewitt and Li, who discovered activity in asteroid 3200 Phaethon, who parents the Geminid meteor shower. The light scattered over the mountain belong to hikers who pursue the peak before sunrise. On the right side, we can see the Orion Nebula M42.

Technical features: modified SONY A7s, 85mm, f1.8, ISO 8000, single 6s exposition over static tripod.

News type
Press release

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