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    Geminid shooting star tagged posts

    Composition of Asteroid Phaethon

    December 1, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Nuori mies kädessään purkki, jossa mustaa hiekkaa.
    Postdoctoral Researcher Eric MacLennan holds in his hands a very rare type of meteorite, the so-called CY carbonaceous chondrite. Only six specimens of the same type are known. The sample is on loan from the Natural History Museum in London. (Image: Susan Heikkinen)

    The asteroid that causes the Geminid shooting star swarm has also puzzled researchers with its comet-like tail. The infrared spectrum of rare meteorites helped to determine the composition of the asteroid.

    Asteroid Phaethon, which is five kilometers in diameter, has been puzzling researchers for a long time. A comet-like tail is visible for a few days when the asteroid passes closest to the Sun during its orbit.

    However, the tails of comets are usually formed by vaporizing ice and carbon dioxide, which cannot explain ...

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