Radiant (meteor shower) move along the comet's wake, and when the Earth moves through such debris, a meteor shower results. Because all of the debris is moving in roughly the same direction, the meteors which strike the atmosphere all "point" back to the direction of the comet's path. As an exception, the Geminids are a shower caused by the object 3200 Phaethon, which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid. The radiant is an important factor in observation. If the radiant point is at or below the horizon, then few if any meteors will be observed. This is because the atmosphere shields the
December solstice December solstice The December solstice, is the solstice that occurs each December, typically between the 20th and the 22nd day of the month according to the Gregorian calendar. In the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice is the winter solstice, whilst in the Southern Hemisphere it is the summer solstice. It is also known as the southern solstice. Recent, past, and future dates and times, in Universal Time, of the December solstice are: The December solstice solar year is the solar year based on the December solstice. It is thus the length of time between adjacent December solstices. The length of