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Best photos of 2018’s Geminid meteor shower

What are the odds?! This amazing image is from Emma Zulaiha Zulkifli in Sabah, on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. She caught a bright meteor streaking right in front of the bright planet Venus on December 15, 2018. She wrote: “Yes, the meteor actually did streak in front of Venus! Only a bit of tweaking on contrast and noise reduction done in Photoshop CC2018.” Fuji X-A1, 18-55mm f2.8 with Tripod, Exif : iso2000, 30″, f2.8. Way to go, Emma!
Greg Hogan captured a meteor – and comet 46P/Wirtanen – on December 15, 2018. “Lucky shot!,” he said.
Aaron Robinson caught this Geminid meteor on December 14, 2018, at 1:30 a.m. MST in Ririe, Idaho. Thanks, Aaron!
The Geminid meteor shower rains down on Death Valley, as seen from Zabriskie Point. Comet Wirtanen is visible in the upper left, below and to the left of Pleiades. Rick Whitacre captured the images to create this composite from 11:41 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. – when clouds rolled in – on the night of the shower’s 2018 peak. He stacked 27 exposures with meteors onto a stack of 42 exposures for a clean foreground, using Starry Landscape Stacker. Sony A7S, Rokinon 14mm f/2.8, 14mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds, ISO12,800.
Prabhakaran A in Sharjah, UAE, captured this image on December 14, 2018. He wrote, “See Castor and Pollux to the top left where there is a bright short meteor. I witnessed 200+ meteors, most of them very faint, however I was able to capture only few bright ones within the frame.”
On December 12, Joel Coombs caught a meteor, and also comet 46P/Wirtanen. Look for the comet in the upper left quadrant of the photo. It’s a greenish dot above and to the left of the upper end of the meteor. See it?
John Michnowicz collected images for 4 hours on the night of the Geminids’ peak, starting at 10:30 p.m. on December 13, 2018. He collected ~1000 images and later combined the 21 images that had meteors using Photoshop. Sony a7III, Rokinon 14mm, 2.8f, 13 sec exposure, ISO 1600. Thank you, John!
Mike Lewinski wrote: “I captured Venus and a meteor at 5:18 a.m. MST today, December 13, 2018, in Tres Piedras, New Mexico.”
Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona, said he saw and/or photographed more than 100 meteors from about 2:30 a.m. to about 5 a.m. on the Geminid’s peak morning, December 14, 2018. He wrote: “This is the best of the night, a fireball at 4:47 a.m. Note Venus to the meteor’s right as a brightness comparison.” Thanks, Eliot!
Gilbert Vancell Nature Photography wrote: “Comet 46P/Wirtanen is the bluish dot on the left. The cluster of stars close to it are the Pleiades. Geminid meteor shower peaked this morning, but should keep up amazing us Earthlings through the weekend. Best to view early morning after moonset.”
View larger. | Geminid meteor on December 13, 2018, above comet 46P/Wirtanen, which is just visible behind a thin cloud layer. Both comet and meteor lie between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. Photo by Gary Marshall in Runcorn, England. Thank you, Gary!
Meteors are best seen in a dark country sky. But sometimes you catch one from a lighted area, too! “Geminid over my neighborhood,” wrote Brotoiu Radu in Breaza, PH, Romania. He caught this meteor around 3 a.m. on the peak morning of the shower, December 14. Canon 5D, Samyang 14mm, F2.8, ISO 3200, 20 sec. Thank you, Brotoiu!
long green streak of Geminid meteor
John Niehay captured this bright green Geminid on Dec. 12, 2018, from Decatur, Illinois. Thanks, John!
bright Venus with Geminid meteors
Nima Asadzadeh caught this photo of an exceedingly bright Venus with Geminid meteors from a location in the Maranjab Desert, Iran. Canon 6D Non-Modified Lens Canon 50mm f/1.4, Shutter Speed: 10 seconds, ISO Speed: 4000, Aperture: f/2.8. Composite of 23 frames, stacked on Adobe PS and processed at Adobe Camera RAW. Thank you, Nima!

Bottom line: Photos of Geminid meteors by members of the EarthSky community.

Want to see 2018’s brightest comet? How to see comet 46P/Wirtanen

EarthSky lunar calendars are cool! They make great gifts. Order now. Going fast!

Posted 
December 17, 2018
 in 
Space

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