Geminid from the vantage point of Johnson

Johnson Space Center photographer Lauren Harnett captured this compilation of the most impressive meteors during the Geminid meteor shower—the strongest meteor shower of the year—on Dec. 14 near Building 420. Stationed amid prairie chickens and a decaying Gemini rocket, Harnett recorded the beautiful long arcs electrifying the night sky. 

The shower, resulting from a small rocky object called 3200 Phaethon, leaves a trail of debris behind as it swings around the sun. When Earth passes through the trail, the debris hits our atmosphere and produces a brilliant nighttime show.

A composite image of the Geminid shower from the vantage point of Johnson Space Center. Image Credit: NASA/Lauren Harnett 

Catherine Ragin Williams

NASA Johnson Space Center