Context
- The Geminid meteor shower is considered the brightest and most reliable annual meteor shower. Visible globally, it peaks in mid-December, offering spectacular night-sky displays.
Key Features
- Active Period
- Begins: Early December
- Ends: Mid-December
- Peak: 13–14 December
- Radiant Point
- The meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Gemini, near the star Castor.
- This gives the shower its name: “Geminids”.
- Parent Body: 3200 Phaethon
- Unusual origin: Unlike most meteor showers originating from icy comets, the Geminids come from a rocky asteroid.
- Often called a “Rock Comet”: Phaethon sheds material due to thermal fracturing when it passes close to the Sun.
- Meteor Characteristics
- Bright and fast-moving meteors
- Yellowish color
- Peak rates: ~120 meteors per hour during optimal viewing
Scientific Understanding of Meteors
- Meteor: The streak of light seen when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns due to friction.
- Meteoroid: Space rock ranging from dust grains to small asteroids.
- Meteorite: A meteoroid that survives atmospheric entry and reaches the Earth’s surface.
IAS-2026 - OPTIONAL / GEOGRAPHY / PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION / SOCIOLOGY / ANTHROPOLOGY / ORIENTATION ON 03 & 04-10-2025 
