Princeton researchers used observations from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event – such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion – that created the Geminids meteoroid stream, producing one of the most intense meteor showers in our night sky each winter.

Mysteries surrounding the origin of this meteoroid stream have long fascinated scientists because, while most meteor showers are created when a comet emits a tail of ice and dust, the Geminids stem from an asteroid – a chunk of rock that normally does not produce a tail. The findings, which were published in the Planetary Science Journal on June 15, narrow down hypotheses about this asteroid’s composition and history that would explain its unconventional behavior.

Video credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith

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