Meteor shower particles that are quickly blown away by solar radiation pressure). Recently, Peter Jenniskens has argued that most of our short-period meteor showers are not from the normal water vapor drag of active comets, but the product of infrequent disintegrations, when large chunks break off a mostly dormant comet. Examples are the Quadrantids and Geminids, which originated from a breakup of asteroid-looking objects, 2003 EH1 and 3200 Phaethon, respectively, about 500 and 1000 years ago. The fragments tend to fall apart quickly into dust, sand, and pebbles, and spread out along the orbit of the comet to form a dense meteoroid
December solstice northern hemisphere; the opposite would be true in the southern hemisphere, with the earliest sunrise, latest sunset, and longest day. 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