Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: StarDate
Episode: Geminid Meteors
Description: A couple of thousand years ago, a large asteroid or comet might have been blasted apart. And we’re still seeing the fireworks from its destruction – as the Geminid meteor shower, which will reach its peak tomorrow night.
Most meteor showers flare to life when Earth passes through the orbital path of a comet. The comet sheds bits of rock and dirt, which spread out along its orbit. As Earth flies through this trail of debris, the solid grains ram into the atmosphere, forming the glowing streaks known as meteors.
But the Geminids are a bit...