Geminid meteor shower peaks in dark skies December 13-14

The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on December 13-14. It’s a great year for the Geminids! Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd for details.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks all night on December 13-14, 2025. The planet Jupiter – brightest starlike object in the sky from late evening until dawn – will be near the Geminid radiant point. The waning crescent moon won’t interfere with these meteors this year. Many Geminid meteors are bright! Will any of them be as bright as Jupiter? Observe from a rural location from late evening until dawn. Have fun!

Predicted peak in 2025: is predicted** for 3 UTC on December 14 (9 p.m. CST on December 13).
When to watch: Since the radiant rises in mid- to late evening, you can watch for Geminids nearly all night – from late evening until dawn – on December 13-14. The nights before and after might be good as well.
Overall duration of shower: November 19 to December 24. This time period is when we’re passing through the Geminid meteor stream in space!
Radiant: Rises in mid- to late evening, highest around 2 a.m. Note that, in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is near the shower’s radiant point. See charts below.
Nearest moon phase: In 2025, the last quarter moon falls at 20:52 UTC on December 11. So a waning crescent moon will rise a few hours after midnight on December 14. It’ll enhance – rather than interfere – with Geminid meteor watching this year.
Expected meteors at peak, under ideal conditions: Under a dark sky with no moon, you might catch 120 Geminid meteors per hour!
Note: The bold, bright – and sometimes colorful – Geminids give us one of the Northern Hemisphere’s best showers, especially in years when there’s no moon. They’re visible, at lower rates, from the Southern Hemisphere, too. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, and the Geminid shower is one of the most beloved meteor showers of the year.

Diagram of the 2025 Geminid meteor shower as seen from above the Earth’s surface, looking down. Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2025 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

The Geminid meteor shower radiant point

The Geminids’ radiant point nearly coincides with the bright star Castor in Gemini. That’s a chance alignment, of course, as Castor lies some 52 light-years away. Meanwhile, these meteors burn up in our world’s upper atmosphere, approximately 60 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface.

Castor is noticeably near another bright star, the golden star Pollux of Gemini. And what’s that bright “star” on the other side of Pollux in 2025? It’s the planet Jupiter, the brightest starlike object in the December night sky.

Jupiter will let you easily picture the Geminids’ radiant point in 2025. But you don’t need to find a meteor shower’s radiant point to see the meteors. Meteors in annual showers appear in all parts of the sky. It’s even possible to have your back to the constellation Gemini and see a Geminid meteor fly by.

If you trace the path of a Geminid meteor backwards, though, you’ll find it comes from the radiant point.

Geminid meteors radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini the Twins, in the east on December evenings. And in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is near the twin stars of Gemini. Chart via EarthSky.

The 2025 Geminid meteor shower, seen from Earth’s surface, looking up. Image via Guy Ottewell. Used with permission.

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: It’s fun and easy!

Parent comet of the Geminid meteor shower

From the late, great Don Machholz (1952-2022), who discovered 12 comets …

An asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon is responsible for the Geminid meteor shower. This origin differs from most meteor showers, which result from comets, not asteroids. What’s the difference between a comet and an asteroid?

A comet is a dirty snowball, with a solid nucleus covered by a layer of ice which sublimates (turns from a solid to a gas) as the comet nears the sun. Comets are typically lightweight, with a density slightly heavier than water. They revolve around the sun in elongated orbits, going close to the sun, then going far from the sun. Seen through a telescope, a comet will show a coma, or head of the comet, as a nebulous patch of light around the nucleus, when it gets close to the sun. But when seen far from the sun, most comets appear starlike, because you see only the nucleus.

An asteroid, on the other hand, is a rock. Typically, an asteroid’s orbit is more circular than that of a comet. Through a telescope an asteroid also appears starlike.

These definitions worked well until a few decades ago. Larger telescopes began discovering asteroids far from the sun, and some of these objects, as they approached the sun, grew comas and tails, requiring the change of designation from asteroid to comet. For example, an odd object named Chiron, considered an asteroid when discovered in 1977, was reclassified as a comet in 1989 when it showed a coma. It orbits the sun every 50 years and travels from just inside the orbit of Saturn to the orbit of Uranus.

So an object initially considered an asteroid can be reclassified as a comet. Then, can the opposite occur? Can a comet be reclassified as an asteroid? Yes, it can. It is possible that a comet can shut down when its volatile materials become trapped beneath the nucleus’ surface. This is known as a dormant comet. When the comet loses all of its volatile materials, it is known as an extinct comet. The asteroid 3200 Phaethon seems to be an example of either a dormant or an extinct comet.

3200 Phaethon discovered in 1983

3200 Phaethon was discovered on images taken by IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) on October 11, 1983, by Simon Green and John Davies. Initially named 1983 TB, it was given an asteroid name, 3200 Phaethon, in 1985. After the orbit was calculated, Fred Whipple announced that this asteroid has the same orbit as the Geminid meteor shower. This was very unusual, since an asteroid had never been associated with a meteor shower. It’s still not known how material from the asteroid’s surface, or interior, is released into the meteoroid stream.

3200 Phaethon gets very close to the sun, half of the distance of the innermost planet, Mercury. Then it ventures out past the orbit of Mars. So the meteor material intersects Earth’s orbit every mid-December. Hence, the Geminid meteor shower.

The Japanese spacecraft DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for Interplanetary Voyage with Phaethon Flyby and Dust Science) is expected to launch in 2028 to visit this asteroid. It should arrive in the year 2030. One proposal from 2006 suggested crashing an object into 3200 Phaethon to produce an artificial meteor shower to better study the asteroid. DESTINY+, however, will not be hitting the asteroid.

Meanwhile, every year around mid-December, Earth will be passing through the stream of particles in space left behind by this asteroid. Those asteroid bits will hit our atmosphere and vaporize, and you can see them this December, and every December.

Read more about asteroid Phaethon

Radar images of near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon generated by astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory on December 17, 2017. The 2017 encounter was the closest the asteroid will come to Earth until 2093. Image via NASA/ Wikipedia.

Geminid meteors tend to be bright

The Geminid meteor shower – always a favorite among the annual meteor showers – is expected to peak in 2025 on December 13-14. The Geminids are a reliable shower, especially for those who watch around 2 a.m. (your local time) from a dark-sky location.

We also often hear from those who see Geminid meteors in the late evening hours. Late evening is the best time to see super-bright earthgrazers. Read more about them below.

Geminid meteors tend to be bright and are often colorful. And in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is in the sky all night, near the shower’s radiant point. Are any of the Geminids you see brighter than Jupiter?

How many meteors, when to look

The zenithal hourly rate for this shower is 120. During an optimum night for the Geminids, it’s possible to see 120 meteors – or more – per hour. Will you see that many? Maybe. On a dark night, near the peak of the shower (for all time zones), you can surely catch at least 50 or more meteors per hour.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Cox in Deep River, Ontario, Canada, captured these meteors and aurora on December 13-14, 2023. David wrote: “A pair of Geminid meteors on either side of the handle of the Big Dipper captured in a single 6 second exposure. A beautiful aurora was dancing for several hours as the Geminid meteors flashed.” Thank you!

Watch for earthgrazers in the evening hours

If the 2 a.m. observing time isn’t practical for you, don’t give up! Sure, you won’t see as many Geminid meteors in the early evening, when the constellation Gemini sits close to the eastern horizon, but since the radiant rises mid-evening it’s worth a try. Plus, the evening hours are the best time to try and catch an earthgrazer.

An earthgrazer is a slooow-moving, looong-lasting meteor that travels horizontally across the sky. Earthgrazers are rare but prove to be especially memorable, if you should be lucky enough to catch one.

Painting of 1860 earthgrazer fireball by Frederic Edwin Church. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

6 tips for Geminid meteor watchers

1. The most important thing, if you’re serious about watching meteors, is a dark, open sky.
2. The peak time of night for Geminids is around 2 a.m. for all parts of the globe. In 2025, a waning crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminid meteor shower.
3. When you’re meteor-watching, it’s good to bring along a buddy. Then the two of you can watch in different directions. When someone sees one, call out, “Meteor!” This technique will let you see more meteors than one person watching alone will see.
4. Be sure to give yourself at least an hour (or more) of observing time. It takes about 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
5. Be aware that meteors often come in spurts, interspersed with lulls.
6. Special equipment? None needed. Definitely consider a sleeping bag to stay warm. A thermos with a warm drink and a snack are always welcome. Plan to sprawl back in a hammock, lawn chair, pile of hay or blanket on the ground. Lie back in comfort, and look upward. The meteors will appear in all parts of the sky. Put your electronics away; they’ll ruin your night vision.

Geminid meteor shower photos from the EarthSky Community

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tameem Altameemi of United Arab Emirates submitted this photo on December 14, 2024, and wrote: “Me and my brother decided to go to an area away from light pollution between the mountains in UAE, and despite the moonlight that filled the place, we were able to see and photograph many meteors and fireballs. A special and completely clear night. We hope that the next shower will be more fortunate.” Thank you, Tameem!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jan Curtis in Cheyenne, Wyoming, shared this composite image from December 14, 2023 – the morning after the Geminids’ peak – and wrote: “Despite the fog and wintery weather from December 12-14, last night was finally clear and I was able to catch the end of this year’s active Geminids. Taking 10s exposures for 10 hours, I was able to record about 69 meteors of which 42 are shown here. Bortle skies 5.0.” Thank you, Jan! Read about the Bortle scale.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Mollenkopf from Lancaster, Ohio, created this composite image with photos taken on December 14, 2023. The windmill is just in the perfect place, right under the radiant point. Nice location and image! Thank you, Brian.

Bottom line: The 2025 Geminid meteor shower peaks in a dark sky overnight on December 13-14. It’s one of the best meteor showers of the year and you can watch for them all night. Under ideal conditions, you might see over 100 meteors per hour.

**Predicted peak times and dates for meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary.

Meteor showers: Tips for watching the show

Learn how to shoot photos of meteors

When can YOU see the 1st-ever human-made meteor shower?

The post Geminid meteor shower peaks in dark skies December 13-14 first appeared on EarthSky.

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The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on December 13-14. It’s a great year for the Geminids! Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd for details.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks all night on December 13-14, 2025. The planet Jupiter – brightest starlike object in the sky from late evening until dawn – will be near the Geminid radiant point. The waning crescent moon won’t interfere with these meteors this year. Many Geminid meteors are bright! Will any of them be as bright as Jupiter? Observe from a rural location from late evening until dawn. Have fun!

Predicted peak in 2025: is predicted** for 3 UTC on December 14 (9 p.m. CST on December 13).
When to watch: Since the radiant rises in mid- to late evening, you can watch for Geminids nearly all night – from late evening until dawn – on December 13-14. The nights before and after might be good as well.
Overall duration of shower: November 19 to December 24. This time period is when we’re passing through the Geminid meteor stream in space!
Radiant: Rises in mid- to late evening, highest around 2 a.m. Note that, in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is near the shower’s radiant point. See charts below.
Nearest moon phase: In 2025, the last quarter moon falls at 20:52 UTC on December 11. So a waning crescent moon will rise a few hours after midnight on December 14. It’ll enhance – rather than interfere – with Geminid meteor watching this year.
Expected meteors at peak, under ideal conditions: Under a dark sky with no moon, you might catch 120 Geminid meteors per hour!
Note: The bold, bright – and sometimes colorful – Geminids give us one of the Northern Hemisphere’s best showers, especially in years when there’s no moon. They’re visible, at lower rates, from the Southern Hemisphere, too. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, and the Geminid shower is one of the most beloved meteor showers of the year.

Diagram of the 2025 Geminid meteor shower as seen from above the Earth’s surface, looking down. Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2025 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

The Geminid meteor shower radiant point

The Geminids’ radiant point nearly coincides with the bright star Castor in Gemini. That’s a chance alignment, of course, as Castor lies some 52 light-years away. Meanwhile, these meteors burn up in our world’s upper atmosphere, approximately 60 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface.

Castor is noticeably near another bright star, the golden star Pollux of Gemini. And what’s that bright “star” on the other side of Pollux in 2025? It’s the planet Jupiter, the brightest starlike object in the December night sky.

Jupiter will let you easily picture the Geminids’ radiant point in 2025. But you don’t need to find a meteor shower’s radiant point to see the meteors. Meteors in annual showers appear in all parts of the sky. It’s even possible to have your back to the constellation Gemini and see a Geminid meteor fly by.

If you trace the path of a Geminid meteor backwards, though, you’ll find it comes from the radiant point.

Geminid meteors radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini the Twins, in the east on December evenings. And in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is near the twin stars of Gemini. Chart via EarthSky.

The 2025 Geminid meteor shower, seen from Earth’s surface, looking up. Image via Guy Ottewell. Used with permission.

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: It’s fun and easy!

Parent comet of the Geminid meteor shower

From the late, great Don Machholz (1952-2022), who discovered 12 comets …

An asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon is responsible for the Geminid meteor shower. This origin differs from most meteor showers, which result from comets, not asteroids. What’s the difference between a comet and an asteroid?

A comet is a dirty snowball, with a solid nucleus covered by a layer of ice which sublimates (turns from a solid to a gas) as the comet nears the sun. Comets are typically lightweight, with a density slightly heavier than water. They revolve around the sun in elongated orbits, going close to the sun, then going far from the sun. Seen through a telescope, a comet will show a coma, or head of the comet, as a nebulous patch of light around the nucleus, when it gets close to the sun. But when seen far from the sun, most comets appear starlike, because you see only the nucleus.

An asteroid, on the other hand, is a rock. Typically, an asteroid’s orbit is more circular than that of a comet. Through a telescope an asteroid also appears starlike.

These definitions worked well until a few decades ago. Larger telescopes began discovering asteroids far from the sun, and some of these objects, as they approached the sun, grew comas and tails, requiring the change of designation from asteroid to comet. For example, an odd object named Chiron, considered an asteroid when discovered in 1977, was reclassified as a comet in 1989 when it showed a coma. It orbits the sun every 50 years and travels from just inside the orbit of Saturn to the orbit of Uranus.

So an object initially considered an asteroid can be reclassified as a comet. Then, can the opposite occur? Can a comet be reclassified as an asteroid? Yes, it can. It is possible that a comet can shut down when its volatile materials become trapped beneath the nucleus’ surface. This is known as a dormant comet. When the comet loses all of its volatile materials, it is known as an extinct comet. The asteroid 3200 Phaethon seems to be an example of either a dormant or an extinct comet.

3200 Phaethon discovered in 1983

3200 Phaethon was discovered on images taken by IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) on October 11, 1983, by Simon Green and John Davies. Initially named 1983 TB, it was given an asteroid name, 3200 Phaethon, in 1985. After the orbit was calculated, Fred Whipple announced that this asteroid has the same orbit as the Geminid meteor shower. This was very unusual, since an asteroid had never been associated with a meteor shower. It’s still not known how material from the asteroid’s surface, or interior, is released into the meteoroid stream.

3200 Phaethon gets very close to the sun, half of the distance of the innermost planet, Mercury. Then it ventures out past the orbit of Mars. So the meteor material intersects Earth’s orbit every mid-December. Hence, the Geminid meteor shower.

The Japanese spacecraft DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for Interplanetary Voyage with Phaethon Flyby and Dust Science) is expected to launch in 2028 to visit this asteroid. It should arrive in the year 2030. One proposal from 2006 suggested crashing an object into 3200 Phaethon to produce an artificial meteor shower to better study the asteroid. DESTINY+, however, will not be hitting the asteroid.

Meanwhile, every year around mid-December, Earth will be passing through the stream of particles in space left behind by this asteroid. Those asteroid bits will hit our atmosphere and vaporize, and you can see them this December, and every December.

Read more about asteroid Phaethon

Radar images of near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon generated by astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory on December 17, 2017. The 2017 encounter was the closest the asteroid will come to Earth until 2093. Image via NASA/ Wikipedia.

Geminid meteors tend to be bright

The Geminid meteor shower – always a favorite among the annual meteor showers – is expected to peak in 2025 on December 13-14. The Geminids are a reliable shower, especially for those who watch around 2 a.m. (your local time) from a dark-sky location.

We also often hear from those who see Geminid meteors in the late evening hours. Late evening is the best time to see super-bright earthgrazers. Read more about them below.

Geminid meteors tend to be bright and are often colorful. And in 2025, the bright planet Jupiter is in the sky all night, near the shower’s radiant point. Are any of the Geminids you see brighter than Jupiter?

How many meteors, when to look

The zenithal hourly rate for this shower is 120. During an optimum night for the Geminids, it’s possible to see 120 meteors – or more – per hour. Will you see that many? Maybe. On a dark night, near the peak of the shower (for all time zones), you can surely catch at least 50 or more meteors per hour.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Cox in Deep River, Ontario, Canada, captured these meteors and aurora on December 13-14, 2023. David wrote: “A pair of Geminid meteors on either side of the handle of the Big Dipper captured in a single 6 second exposure. A beautiful aurora was dancing for several hours as the Geminid meteors flashed.” Thank you!

Watch for earthgrazers in the evening hours

If the 2 a.m. observing time isn’t practical for you, don’t give up! Sure, you won’t see as many Geminid meteors in the early evening, when the constellation Gemini sits close to the eastern horizon, but since the radiant rises mid-evening it’s worth a try. Plus, the evening hours are the best time to try and catch an earthgrazer.

An earthgrazer is a slooow-moving, looong-lasting meteor that travels horizontally across the sky. Earthgrazers are rare but prove to be especially memorable, if you should be lucky enough to catch one.

Painting of 1860 earthgrazer fireball by Frederic Edwin Church. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

6 tips for Geminid meteor watchers

1. The most important thing, if you’re serious about watching meteors, is a dark, open sky.
2. The peak time of night for Geminids is around 2 a.m. for all parts of the globe. In 2025, a waning crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminid meteor shower.
3. When you’re meteor-watching, it’s good to bring along a buddy. Then the two of you can watch in different directions. When someone sees one, call out, “Meteor!” This technique will let you see more meteors than one person watching alone will see.
4. Be sure to give yourself at least an hour (or more) of observing time. It takes about 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark.
5. Be aware that meteors often come in spurts, interspersed with lulls.
6. Special equipment? None needed. Definitely consider a sleeping bag to stay warm. A thermos with a warm drink and a snack are always welcome. Plan to sprawl back in a hammock, lawn chair, pile of hay or blanket on the ground. Lie back in comfort, and look upward. The meteors will appear in all parts of the sky. Put your electronics away; they’ll ruin your night vision.

Geminid meteor shower photos from the EarthSky Community

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tameem Altameemi of United Arab Emirates submitted this photo on December 14, 2024, and wrote: “Me and my brother decided to go to an area away from light pollution between the mountains in UAE, and despite the moonlight that filled the place, we were able to see and photograph many meteors and fireballs. A special and completely clear night. We hope that the next shower will be more fortunate.” Thank you, Tameem!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jan Curtis in Cheyenne, Wyoming, shared this composite image from December 14, 2023 – the morning after the Geminids’ peak – and wrote: “Despite the fog and wintery weather from December 12-14, last night was finally clear and I was able to catch the end of this year’s active Geminids. Taking 10s exposures for 10 hours, I was able to record about 69 meteors of which 42 are shown here. Bortle skies 5.0.” Thank you, Jan! Read about the Bortle scale.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Mollenkopf from Lancaster, Ohio, created this composite image with photos taken on December 14, 2023. The windmill is just in the perfect place, right under the radiant point. Nice location and image! Thank you, Brian.

Bottom line: The 2025 Geminid meteor shower peaks in a dark sky overnight on December 13-14. It’s one of the best meteor showers of the year and you can watch for them all night. Under ideal conditions, you might see over 100 meteors per hour.

**Predicted peak times and dates for meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary.

Meteor showers: Tips for watching the show

Learn how to shoot photos of meteors

When can YOU see the 1st-ever human-made meteor shower?

The post Geminid meteor shower peaks in dark skies December 13-14 first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lFO2ETw

This moss survived in space for 9 months

Meet a spreading earthmoss known as Physcomitrella patens. It’s frequently used as a model organism for studies on plant evolution, development, and physiology. In this image, a reddish-brown sporophyte sits at the top center of a leafy gametophore. This capsule contains numerous spores inside. Scientists tested samples like these on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) to see if they could tolerate the extreme airless environment. And they did. The moss survived in space for 9 months and could have lasted even longer. Image via Tomomichi Fujita/ EurekAlert! (CC BY-SA).

• Space is a deadly environment, with no air, extreme temperature swings and harsh radiation. Could any life survive there?
• Reasearchers in Japan tested a type of moss called spreading earthmoss on the exterior of the International Space Station.
• The moss survived for nine months, and the spores were still able to reproduce when brought back to Earth.

Moss survived in space for 9 months

Can life exist in space? Not simply on other planets or moons, but in the cold, dark, airless void of space itself? Most organisms would perish almost immediately, to be sure. But researchers in Japan recently experimented with moss, with surprising results. They said on November 20, 2025, that more than 80% of their moss spores survived nine months on the outside of the International Space Station. Not only that, but when brought back to Earth, they were still capable of reproducing. Nature, it seems, is even tougher than we thought!

Amazingly, the results show that some primitive plants – not even just microorganisms – can survive long-term exposure to the extreme space environment.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in the journal iScience on November 20, 2025.

A deadly environment for life

Space is a horrible place for life. The lack of air, radiation and extreme cold make it pretty much unsurvivable for life as we know it. As lead author Tomomichi Fujita at Hokkaido University in Japan stated:

Most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive even briefly in the vacuum of space. However, the moss spores retained their vitality after nine months of direct exposure. This provides striking evidence that the life that has evolved on Earth possesses, at the cellular level, intrinsic mechanisms to endure the conditions of space.

This #moss survived 9 months directly exposed to the vacuum space and could still reproduce after returning to Earth. ? ? spkl.io/63322AdFrpTomomichi Fujita & colleagues@cp-iscience.bsky.social

— Cell Press (@cellpress.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T16:00:02.992Z

What about moss?

Researchers wanted to see if any Earthly life could survive in space’s deadly environment for the long term. To find out, they decided to do some experiments with a type of moss called spreading earthmoss, or Physcomitrium patens. The researchers sent hundreds of sporophytes – encapsulated moss spores – to the International Space Station in March 2022, aboard the Cygnus NG-17 spacecraft. They attached the sporophyte samples to the outside of the ISS, where they were exposed to the vacuum of space for 283 days.

By doing so, the samples were subjected to high levels of UV (ultraviolet) radiation and extreme swings of temperature. The samples later returned to Earth in January 2023.

The researchers tested three parts of the moss. These were the protonemata, or juvenile moss; brood cells, or specialized stem cells that emerge under stress conditions; and the sporophytes. Fujita said:

We anticipated that the combined stresses of space, including vacuum, cosmic radiation, extreme temperature fluctuations and microgravity, would cause far greater damage than any single stress alone.

Astronauts placed the moss samples on the outside of the International Space Station for the 9-month-long experiment. Incredibly, more than 80% of the the encapsulated spores survived the trip to space and back to Earth. Image via NASA/ Roscosmos.

The moss survived!

So, how did the moss do? The results were mixed, but overall showed that the moss could survive in space. The radiation was the most difficult aspect of the space environment to withstand. The sporophytes were the most resilient. Incredibly, they were able to survive and germinate after being exposed to -196 degrees Celsius (-320 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than a week. At the other extreme, they also survived in 55° degrees C (131 degrees F) heat for a month.

Some brood cells survived as well, but the encased spores were about 1,000 times more tolerant to the UV radiation.

On the other hand, none of the juvenile moss survived the high UV levels or the extreme temperatures.

Samples of moss spores that germinated after their 9-month exposure to space. Image via Dr. Chang-hyun Maeng/ Maika Kobayashi/ EurekAlert!. (CC BY-SA).

How did the spores survive?

So why did the encapsulated spores do so well? The researchers said the natural structure surrounding the spore itself helps to protect the spore. Essentially, it absorbs the UV radiation and surrounds the inner spore both physically and chemically to prevent damage.

As it turns out, this might be associated with the evolution of mosses. This is an adaptation that helped bryophytes – the group of plants to which mosses belong – to make the transition from aquatic to terrestrial plants 500 million years ago.

Overall, more than 80% of the spores survived the journey to space and then back to Earth. And only 11% were unable to germinate after being brought back to the lab on Earth. That’s impressive!

In addition, the researchers also tested the levels of chlorophyll in the spores. After the exposure to space, the spores still had normal amounts of chlorophyll, except for chlorophyll a specifically. In that case, there was a 20% reduction. Chlorophyll a is used in oxygenic photosynthesis. It absorbs the most energy from wavelengths of violet-blue and orange-red light.

Tomomichi Fujita at Hokkaido University in Japan is the lead author of the new study about moss in space. Image via Hokkaido University.

Spores could have survived for 15 years

The time available for the experiment was limited to the several months. However, the researchers wondered if the moss spores could have survived even longer. And using mathematical models, they determined the spores would likely have continued to live in space for about 15 years, or 5,600 days, altogether. The researchers note this prediction is a rough estimate. More data would still be needed to make that assessment even more accurate.

So the results show just how resilient moss is, and perhaps some other kinds of life, too. Fujita said:

This study demonstrates the astonishing resilience of life that originated on Earth.

Ultimately, we hope this work opens a new frontier toward constructing ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments such as the moon and Mars. I hope that our moss research will serve as a starting point.

Bottom line: In an experiment on the outside of the International Space Station, a species of moss survived in space for nine months. And it could have lasted much longer.

Source: Extreme environmental tolerance and space survivability of the moss, Physcomitrium patens

Via EurekAlert!

Read more: This desert moss could grow on Mars, no greenhouse needed

Read more: Colorful life on exoplanets might be lurking in clouds

The post This moss survived in space for 9 months first appeared on EarthSky.

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Meet a spreading earthmoss known as Physcomitrella patens. It’s frequently used as a model organism for studies on plant evolution, development, and physiology. In this image, a reddish-brown sporophyte sits at the top center of a leafy gametophore. This capsule contains numerous spores inside. Scientists tested samples like these on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) to see if they could tolerate the extreme airless environment. And they did. The moss survived in space for 9 months and could have lasted even longer. Image via Tomomichi Fujita/ EurekAlert! (CC BY-SA).

• Space is a deadly environment, with no air, extreme temperature swings and harsh radiation. Could any life survive there?
• Reasearchers in Japan tested a type of moss called spreading earthmoss on the exterior of the International Space Station.
• The moss survived for nine months, and the spores were still able to reproduce when brought back to Earth.

Moss survived in space for 9 months

Can life exist in space? Not simply on other planets or moons, but in the cold, dark, airless void of space itself? Most organisms would perish almost immediately, to be sure. But researchers in Japan recently experimented with moss, with surprising results. They said on November 20, 2025, that more than 80% of their moss spores survived nine months on the outside of the International Space Station. Not only that, but when brought back to Earth, they were still capable of reproducing. Nature, it seems, is even tougher than we thought!

Amazingly, the results show that some primitive plants – not even just microorganisms – can survive long-term exposure to the extreme space environment.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in the journal iScience on November 20, 2025.

A deadly environment for life

Space is a horrible place for life. The lack of air, radiation and extreme cold make it pretty much unsurvivable for life as we know it. As lead author Tomomichi Fujita at Hokkaido University in Japan stated:

Most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive even briefly in the vacuum of space. However, the moss spores retained their vitality after nine months of direct exposure. This provides striking evidence that the life that has evolved on Earth possesses, at the cellular level, intrinsic mechanisms to endure the conditions of space.

This #moss survived 9 months directly exposed to the vacuum space and could still reproduce after returning to Earth. ? ? spkl.io/63322AdFrpTomomichi Fujita & colleagues@cp-iscience.bsky.social

— Cell Press (@cellpress.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T16:00:02.992Z

What about moss?

Researchers wanted to see if any Earthly life could survive in space’s deadly environment for the long term. To find out, they decided to do some experiments with a type of moss called spreading earthmoss, or Physcomitrium patens. The researchers sent hundreds of sporophytes – encapsulated moss spores – to the International Space Station in March 2022, aboard the Cygnus NG-17 spacecraft. They attached the sporophyte samples to the outside of the ISS, where they were exposed to the vacuum of space for 283 days.

By doing so, the samples were subjected to high levels of UV (ultraviolet) radiation and extreme swings of temperature. The samples later returned to Earth in January 2023.

The researchers tested three parts of the moss. These were the protonemata, or juvenile moss; brood cells, or specialized stem cells that emerge under stress conditions; and the sporophytes. Fujita said:

We anticipated that the combined stresses of space, including vacuum, cosmic radiation, extreme temperature fluctuations and microgravity, would cause far greater damage than any single stress alone.

Astronauts placed the moss samples on the outside of the International Space Station for the 9-month-long experiment. Incredibly, more than 80% of the the encapsulated spores survived the trip to space and back to Earth. Image via NASA/ Roscosmos.

The moss survived!

So, how did the moss do? The results were mixed, but overall showed that the moss could survive in space. The radiation was the most difficult aspect of the space environment to withstand. The sporophytes were the most resilient. Incredibly, they were able to survive and germinate after being exposed to -196 degrees Celsius (-320 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than a week. At the other extreme, they also survived in 55° degrees C (131 degrees F) heat for a month.

Some brood cells survived as well, but the encased spores were about 1,000 times more tolerant to the UV radiation.

On the other hand, none of the juvenile moss survived the high UV levels or the extreme temperatures.

Samples of moss spores that germinated after their 9-month exposure to space. Image via Dr. Chang-hyun Maeng/ Maika Kobayashi/ EurekAlert!. (CC BY-SA).

How did the spores survive?

So why did the encapsulated spores do so well? The researchers said the natural structure surrounding the spore itself helps to protect the spore. Essentially, it absorbs the UV radiation and surrounds the inner spore both physically and chemically to prevent damage.

As it turns out, this might be associated with the evolution of mosses. This is an adaptation that helped bryophytes – the group of plants to which mosses belong – to make the transition from aquatic to terrestrial plants 500 million years ago.

Overall, more than 80% of the spores survived the journey to space and then back to Earth. And only 11% were unable to germinate after being brought back to the lab on Earth. That’s impressive!

In addition, the researchers also tested the levels of chlorophyll in the spores. After the exposure to space, the spores still had normal amounts of chlorophyll, except for chlorophyll a specifically. In that case, there was a 20% reduction. Chlorophyll a is used in oxygenic photosynthesis. It absorbs the most energy from wavelengths of violet-blue and orange-red light.

Tomomichi Fujita at Hokkaido University in Japan is the lead author of the new study about moss in space. Image via Hokkaido University.

Spores could have survived for 15 years

The time available for the experiment was limited to the several months. However, the researchers wondered if the moss spores could have survived even longer. And using mathematical models, they determined the spores would likely have continued to live in space for about 15 years, or 5,600 days, altogether. The researchers note this prediction is a rough estimate. More data would still be needed to make that assessment even more accurate.

So the results show just how resilient moss is, and perhaps some other kinds of life, too. Fujita said:

This study demonstrates the astonishing resilience of life that originated on Earth.

Ultimately, we hope this work opens a new frontier toward constructing ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments such as the moon and Mars. I hope that our moss research will serve as a starting point.

Bottom line: In an experiment on the outside of the International Space Station, a species of moss survived in space for nine months. And it could have lasted much longer.

Source: Extreme environmental tolerance and space survivability of the moss, Physcomitrium patens

Via EurekAlert!

Read more: This desert moss could grow on Mars, no greenhouse needed

Read more: Colorful life on exoplanets might be lurking in clouds

The post This moss survived in space for 9 months first appeared on EarthSky.

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Mysterious 3200 Phaethon is the Geminids’ parent object

Artist’s concept of asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Most asteroids are rocky or metallic, and they don’t vent stuff into space. But 3200 Phaethon comes exceptionally close to the sun. At such times, we know the sun heats its surface, causing cracking, fracturing and a release of dust particles, forming a tail. Still, scientists think this process – the object’s heating while nearest the sun – isn’t enough to account for the mass of material in the Geminid meteor stream. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ IPAC.

The 2026 EarthSky lunar calendar makes a great gift. Get yours today!

The Geminid meteor shower is peaking on the overnight of December 13-14, 2025. Read more about 2025’s Geminid meteor shower.

Weirdly comet-like 3200 Phaethon

Most meteors in annual showers have comets as their sources. But not December’s Geminid meteors, whose source is a mysterious object known as 3200 Phaethon. This objecty is a strange hybrid world: apparently part asteroid and part comet. This “rock-comet” isn’t icy, as a comet is. But it brightens as it nears the sun, as comets do. And it’s been observed to have a tail when nearest the sun. Plus, it spawns the Geminid meteor shower. And so scientists have long puzzled over 3200 Phaethon. How can a rocky asteroid leave behind debris that sparks a meteor shower? Where does its tail come from?

Scientists are still studying 3200 Phaethon, hoping for insights into the object that parents one of the year’s most beloved meteor showers.

Research from Lowell Observatory

The Planetary Science Journal published a study about 3200 Phaethon in April 2023.

On December 13, 2023, Spaceweather.com quoted astronomer Karl Battams of the U.S. Naval Observatory – a co-author of the April study – as saying:

Our work has upended years of belief about 3200 Phaethon, the source of the Geminids. It’s not what we thought it was.

In other words, since its discovery in 1983, 3200 Phaethon has appeared to be a rocky asteroid. NASA’s STEREO spacecraft first observed its tail – which appears when 3200 Phaethon passes near the sun in its 524-day orbit – in 2009 and 2012.

But, according to the story in Spaceweather.com, Qicheng Zhang at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff was “never convinced.” Spaceweather.com explained:

For one thing, the Geminid debris stream is massive (1,013 kg or 2,233 pounds), while the tail of 3200 Phaethon is puny, providing less than 1% of the mass required to explain the Geminids.

‘The tail we see today could never supply enough dust to supply the Geminid meteor shower,’ says Zhang.

Zhang, Battams, and colleagues decided to take a closer look. Using coronagraphs on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), they monitored Phaethon as it passed by the sun in 2022. Color filters on the spacecraft revealed no dust or rock. Instead, Phaethon’s tail is made of sodium gas.

And therein lies the twist. Meteor showers are made of meteoroids, not gas. Suddenly, the Geminids are a mystery again.

‘We’re back to square one,’ says Zhang. ‘Where do the Geminids come from?’

Source: Sodium Brightening of (3200) Phaethon near Perihelion

More new research on 3200 Phaethon

Could the answer come from a different study, published on November 2, 2023, by a team at the University of Helsinki? This new study appears in the journal Nature Astronomy.

This team compared an infrared spectrum of 3200 Phaethon – from NASA’s Spitzer space telescope – to infrared spectra of known meteorites. They found Phaethon’s spectrum showed olivine, carbonates, iron sulfides and oxide minerals. Those substances are also found in the composition of CY carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (a rare type of meteorites with only six samples available for study).

When CY meteorites are exposed to high temperatures, the carbonates in the meteorites produce carbon dioxide. That releases water vapor, and the sulfides release sulfur gas. Could that be what’s happening in 3200 Phaethon also? Is that why this object has a tail when nearest the sun?

Source: Thermal decomposition as the activity driver of near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon

NASA also found sodium coming off 3200 Phaethon’s surface

Scientists with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, first announced sodium fizzing from the asteroid’s surface in 2021. Their statement explained that this asteroid:

… brightens as it gets close to the sun. Comets typically behave like this: When they heat up, their icy surfaces vaporize, causing them to become more active and brighten as the venting gases and dust scatter more sunlight. But what is causing Phaethon to brighten if not vaporizing ices?

So it’s been thought for a few years that sodium could play a role in the formation of 3200 Phaethon’s tail.

Read more: Fizzing Sodium Could Explain Asteroid Phaethon’s Cometlike Activity

View larger. | Look closely to see the faint dust trail between the white dots. Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, parent body for the Geminid meteor shower, left this trail. The WISPR camera aboard the Parker Solar Probe captured the trail for the 1st time in 2019. At that time, astronomers said that something “catastrophic” might have happened to Phaethon a couple of thousand years ago to create this trail of debris and the Geminid meteor shower. However, NASA astronomers wondered if sodium fizz is a better answer. Image via Brendan Gallagher/ Guillermo Stenborg/ US Naval Research Lab.

All that, and blue, too

By the way, the comet-like behavior of this asteroid isn’t the only unusual thing about it. For one thing, 3200 Phaethon has an odd color for an asteroid. Most asteroids are dull grey to red, depending on the type of material on their surface. 3200 Phaethon is blue. It’s not the only blue asteroid, but blue asteroids make up only a fraction of all known asteroids. And Phaethon isn’t just blue. It’s one of the bluest of similarly colored asteroids (or comets) in the solar system.

Here’s another odd feature of 3200 Phaethon. While comets tend to have more elliptical orbits, asteroid orbits are more circular. 3200 Phaethon’s orbit – which is now exceedingly well known – is highly elongated, reminiscent of some comets. Its orbit crosses the orbits of Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury.

Plus, its orbit brings 3200 Phaethon closer to the sun than any other named asteroid (though some smaller, unnamed asteroids come even closer). At its closest point, Phaethon is only 13 million miles (20.9 million km) from the sun. That’s less than half of Mercury’s closest distance.

The name of this object – 3200 Phaethon – honors its relationship to the sun. In Greek mythology, Phaethon was the son of the sun god Helios.

A potentially hazardous asteroid

3200 Phaethon is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. But that doesn’t mean it’s a threat to Earth. It just means two things. First, 3200 Phaethon is big. The latest estimates (2021) suggest it’s 3.6 miles (5.8 km) wide. It’s big enough to cause significant regional damage if it were to strike Earth. Second, it makes periodic close approaches to Earth. But astronomers know of no upcoming strike by this object in the foreseeable future.

In 2017, 3200 Phaethon came closer to Earth than it will again until 2093. At its closest in 2017, it was still about 26 times the moon’s distance away.

Videos of 3200 Phaethon

Steven Bellavia produced a video (below) of 3200 Phaethon in 2017. He commented then that he’d endured cloudy weather and subfreezing temperatures in order to capture the images.

What causes the wonderful Geminids meteor shower (peaks 13/14 Dec)? Debris left behind by this 3 mile wide asteroid – 3200 Phaethon. Can you spot it moving? pic.twitter.com/TVDY2DUQyS

— Richard Darn (@RichDarn1) December 7, 2017

Astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory generated these radar images of 3200 Phaethon on December 17, 2017. Image via Arecibo Observatory/ NASA/ NSF/ Wikimedia Commons.

The history of 3200 Phaethon

3200 Phaethon was the first asteroid discovered via spacecraft, on October 11, 1983. Astronomers Simon F. Green and John K. Davies noticed it while searching Infrared Astronomical Satellite data for moving objects. Charles T. Kowal confirmed it optically and said it was asteroid-like in appearance. The object received the provisional designation 1983 TB. Two years later, in 1985, using the convention for naming asteroids, astronomers assigned it its asteroid number and name: 3200 Phaethon.

Before 3200 Phaethon, scientists linked all known meteor showers to comets and not asteroids.

Thus, 3200 Phaethon surprised them from the beginning, because – while it looked like an asteroid – it appeared to be the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Astronomers began calling 3200 Phaethon a comet-asteroid hybrid, an asteroid that behaves like a comet. Later, they began using the term rock-comet.

What else will we learn about this object, as the years pass?

Bottom line: The Geminid meteor shower has a unique source: 3200 Phaethon. It’s an asteroid that behaves like a comet. That’s why it is sometimes called a comet-asteroid hybrid, or a rock-comet.

Source: Thermal decomposition as the activity driver of near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon

Via University of Helsinki, JPL and U.S. Naval Research Lab

The post Mysterious 3200 Phaethon is the Geminids’ parent object first appeared on EarthSky.

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Artist’s concept of asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Most asteroids are rocky or metallic, and they don’t vent stuff into space. But 3200 Phaethon comes exceptionally close to the sun. At such times, we know the sun heats its surface, causing cracking, fracturing and a release of dust particles, forming a tail. Still, scientists think this process – the object’s heating while nearest the sun – isn’t enough to account for the mass of material in the Geminid meteor stream. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ IPAC.

The 2026 EarthSky lunar calendar makes a great gift. Get yours today!

The Geminid meteor shower is peaking on the overnight of December 13-14, 2025. Read more about 2025’s Geminid meteor shower.

Weirdly comet-like 3200 Phaethon

Most meteors in annual showers have comets as their sources. But not December’s Geminid meteors, whose source is a mysterious object known as 3200 Phaethon. This objecty is a strange hybrid world: apparently part asteroid and part comet. This “rock-comet” isn’t icy, as a comet is. But it brightens as it nears the sun, as comets do. And it’s been observed to have a tail when nearest the sun. Plus, it spawns the Geminid meteor shower. And so scientists have long puzzled over 3200 Phaethon. How can a rocky asteroid leave behind debris that sparks a meteor shower? Where does its tail come from?

Scientists are still studying 3200 Phaethon, hoping for insights into the object that parents one of the year’s most beloved meteor showers.

Research from Lowell Observatory

The Planetary Science Journal published a study about 3200 Phaethon in April 2023.

On December 13, 2023, Spaceweather.com quoted astronomer Karl Battams of the U.S. Naval Observatory – a co-author of the April study – as saying:

Our work has upended years of belief about 3200 Phaethon, the source of the Geminids. It’s not what we thought it was.

In other words, since its discovery in 1983, 3200 Phaethon has appeared to be a rocky asteroid. NASA’s STEREO spacecraft first observed its tail – which appears when 3200 Phaethon passes near the sun in its 524-day orbit – in 2009 and 2012.

But, according to the story in Spaceweather.com, Qicheng Zhang at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff was “never convinced.” Spaceweather.com explained:

For one thing, the Geminid debris stream is massive (1,013 kg or 2,233 pounds), while the tail of 3200 Phaethon is puny, providing less than 1% of the mass required to explain the Geminids.

‘The tail we see today could never supply enough dust to supply the Geminid meteor shower,’ says Zhang.

Zhang, Battams, and colleagues decided to take a closer look. Using coronagraphs on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), they monitored Phaethon as it passed by the sun in 2022. Color filters on the spacecraft revealed no dust or rock. Instead, Phaethon’s tail is made of sodium gas.

And therein lies the twist. Meteor showers are made of meteoroids, not gas. Suddenly, the Geminids are a mystery again.

‘We’re back to square one,’ says Zhang. ‘Where do the Geminids come from?’

Source: Sodium Brightening of (3200) Phaethon near Perihelion

More new research on 3200 Phaethon

Could the answer come from a different study, published on November 2, 2023, by a team at the University of Helsinki? This new study appears in the journal Nature Astronomy.

This team compared an infrared spectrum of 3200 Phaethon – from NASA’s Spitzer space telescope – to infrared spectra of known meteorites. They found Phaethon’s spectrum showed olivine, carbonates, iron sulfides and oxide minerals. Those substances are also found in the composition of CY carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (a rare type of meteorites with only six samples available for study).

When CY meteorites are exposed to high temperatures, the carbonates in the meteorites produce carbon dioxide. That releases water vapor, and the sulfides release sulfur gas. Could that be what’s happening in 3200 Phaethon also? Is that why this object has a tail when nearest the sun?

Source: Thermal decomposition as the activity driver of near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon

NASA also found sodium coming off 3200 Phaethon’s surface

Scientists with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, first announced sodium fizzing from the asteroid’s surface in 2021. Their statement explained that this asteroid:

… brightens as it gets close to the sun. Comets typically behave like this: When they heat up, their icy surfaces vaporize, causing them to become more active and brighten as the venting gases and dust scatter more sunlight. But what is causing Phaethon to brighten if not vaporizing ices?

So it’s been thought for a few years that sodium could play a role in the formation of 3200 Phaethon’s tail.

Read more: Fizzing Sodium Could Explain Asteroid Phaethon’s Cometlike Activity

View larger. | Look closely to see the faint dust trail between the white dots. Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, parent body for the Geminid meteor shower, left this trail. The WISPR camera aboard the Parker Solar Probe captured the trail for the 1st time in 2019. At that time, astronomers said that something “catastrophic” might have happened to Phaethon a couple of thousand years ago to create this trail of debris and the Geminid meteor shower. However, NASA astronomers wondered if sodium fizz is a better answer. Image via Brendan Gallagher/ Guillermo Stenborg/ US Naval Research Lab.

All that, and blue, too

By the way, the comet-like behavior of this asteroid isn’t the only unusual thing about it. For one thing, 3200 Phaethon has an odd color for an asteroid. Most asteroids are dull grey to red, depending on the type of material on their surface. 3200 Phaethon is blue. It’s not the only blue asteroid, but blue asteroids make up only a fraction of all known asteroids. And Phaethon isn’t just blue. It’s one of the bluest of similarly colored asteroids (or comets) in the solar system.

Here’s another odd feature of 3200 Phaethon. While comets tend to have more elliptical orbits, asteroid orbits are more circular. 3200 Phaethon’s orbit – which is now exceedingly well known – is highly elongated, reminiscent of some comets. Its orbit crosses the orbits of Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury.

Plus, its orbit brings 3200 Phaethon closer to the sun than any other named asteroid (though some smaller, unnamed asteroids come even closer). At its closest point, Phaethon is only 13 million miles (20.9 million km) from the sun. That’s less than half of Mercury’s closest distance.

The name of this object – 3200 Phaethon – honors its relationship to the sun. In Greek mythology, Phaethon was the son of the sun god Helios.

A potentially hazardous asteroid

3200 Phaethon is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. But that doesn’t mean it’s a threat to Earth. It just means two things. First, 3200 Phaethon is big. The latest estimates (2021) suggest it’s 3.6 miles (5.8 km) wide. It’s big enough to cause significant regional damage if it were to strike Earth. Second, it makes periodic close approaches to Earth. But astronomers know of no upcoming strike by this object in the foreseeable future.

In 2017, 3200 Phaethon came closer to Earth than it will again until 2093. At its closest in 2017, it was still about 26 times the moon’s distance away.

Videos of 3200 Phaethon

Steven Bellavia produced a video (below) of 3200 Phaethon in 2017. He commented then that he’d endured cloudy weather and subfreezing temperatures in order to capture the images.

What causes the wonderful Geminids meteor shower (peaks 13/14 Dec)? Debris left behind by this 3 mile wide asteroid – 3200 Phaethon. Can you spot it moving? pic.twitter.com/TVDY2DUQyS

— Richard Darn (@RichDarn1) December 7, 2017

Astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory generated these radar images of 3200 Phaethon on December 17, 2017. Image via Arecibo Observatory/ NASA/ NSF/ Wikimedia Commons.

The history of 3200 Phaethon

3200 Phaethon was the first asteroid discovered via spacecraft, on October 11, 1983. Astronomers Simon F. Green and John K. Davies noticed it while searching Infrared Astronomical Satellite data for moving objects. Charles T. Kowal confirmed it optically and said it was asteroid-like in appearance. The object received the provisional designation 1983 TB. Two years later, in 1985, using the convention for naming asteroids, astronomers assigned it its asteroid number and name: 3200 Phaethon.

Before 3200 Phaethon, scientists linked all known meteor showers to comets and not asteroids.

Thus, 3200 Phaethon surprised them from the beginning, because – while it looked like an asteroid – it appeared to be the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Astronomers began calling 3200 Phaethon a comet-asteroid hybrid, an asteroid that behaves like a comet. Later, they began using the term rock-comet.

What else will we learn about this object, as the years pass?

Bottom line: The Geminid meteor shower has a unique source: 3200 Phaethon. It’s an asteroid that behaves like a comet. That’s why it is sometimes called a comet-asteroid hybrid, or a rock-comet.

Source: Thermal decomposition as the activity driver of near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon

Via University of Helsinki, JPL and U.S. Naval Research Lab

The post Mysterious 3200 Phaethon is the Geminids’ parent object first appeared on EarthSky.

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Meteor showers are here! 10 easy tips for watching

Hooray! It’s meteor time! That’s right, the Geminid meteor shower has been rambling across the sky since late November. Plus, it blends in with the Ursid meteor shower. And 2026 starts off with the Quadrantid meteor shower on the morning of January 4.

When is the next meteor shower? Click here for EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

So, how can you optimize your chances of seeing a great meteor display? Follow the tips below.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Victor Rogus captured this image on January 3, 2025, in Sedona, Arizona, and wrote: “A very bright meteor, a bolide, struck just before dawn this morning. Our Oculus camera caught the strike. This may have been a Quadrantid meteor; that shower peaks tonight. I froze one night in the backwoods of Missouri to capture my one and only Quadrantid. So this one made my day!” Thank you, Victor! See more images of meteor showers below.

1. Know the peak time

Generally, meteor showers happen over many days as Earth encounters a wide stream of icy particles in space. These particles are debris left behind by a comet. So the peak is a point in time when Earth is expected to encounter the greatest number of comet particles. To find the peak dates of meteor showers, check EarthSky’s meteor guide.

And here’s the catch … the peak of the shower comes at the same time for all of us on Earth. Meanwhile, our clocks are saying different times. You’ll often need to adjust from UTC to your local time.

However, the predictions are not always right on the money. And remember … it’s possible to see nice meteor displays in the hours – even days – before or after the predicted peak.

Also, keep in mind that meteor showers are part of nature. So naturally, they often defy prediction.

2. Location, location, location

We can’t say this strongly enough. It’s important to have a dark place to observe in the country. Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze.

And … you need a wide-open view of the sky. A farmer’s field? Maybe a stretch of country road? Or a campsite with a clear view in one or more directions? That’s because an open sky will increase your chances of seeing some meteors.

3. Oh no! The moon is out

During a meteor shower, a bright moon is not your friend. In fact, nothing dampens the display of a meteor shower more effectively than a bright moon.

If the moon is out, look at areas of the sky away from the moon. Anything in the moon’s vicinity – including meteors – will likely be washed out by its bright light. And, another tip for watching in moonlight: place some object between yourself and the moon. Observing from the shadow of a barn, or vehicle, even a tree, can help you see more meteors. Basically, place yourself somewhere in the moon’s shadow.

4. Know the expected rate

Here, we touch on a topic that sometimes leads to some disappointment, especially among novice meteor-watchers: the rate.

Tables of meteor showers almost always list what is known as the zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) for each shower.

So the ZHR is the number of meteors you’ll see if you’re watching in a very dark sky, with the radiant overhead, when the shower is at its peak. In other words, the ZHR represents the number of meteors you might see per hour given the very best observing conditions during the shower’s maximum.

If the peak occurs when it’s still daylight at your location, if most of the meteors are predominantly faint, if a bright moon is out or if you’re located in a light-polluted area, the total number of meteors you see will be considerably reduced.

5. Don’t worry too much about radiant points

You don’t need to stare all night in a single direction – or even locate the radiant point – to have fun watching the shower. The meteors will appear all over the sky.

But … although you can see meteors shoot up from the horizon before a shower’s radiant rises, you’ll see more meteors after it rises. And you’ll see the most when the radiant is highest in the sky. So, find out the radiant point’s rising time. Then you can pinpoint the best time of night to watch the shower.

And … the radiant point is interesting. If you track meteors backward on the sky’s dome, you’ll find them streaming from their radiant point, a single point within a given constellation. Hence the meteor shower’s name.

6. Watch for an hour or more

Meteor showers will be better if you let your eyes adapt to the dark. That can take as long as 20 minutes. Plus, the meteors tend to come in spurts, followed by lulls. So, be patient! You’ll see some.

7. Notice the meteors’ speeds and colors

The recent Leonids are the swiftest meteors and the recent Taurids are the slowest meteors. The nice thing about a slow or medium speed meteor shower – such as the Geminids – is if you see one and yell “meteor,” other people can catch it as well.

In fact, all upcoming meteor showers … the Geminids, the Ursids and the Quadrantids are medium speed showers.

Plus, the December Geminids, like the August Perseids, can be colorful.

8. Watch for meteor trains

A meteor train is a persistent glow in the air left by some meteors after they have faded from view. Trains are from luminous ionized matter left in the wake of this incoming space debris. About 10% of the Delta Aquariid meteors leave a persistent train. None of the December or January meteor showers tend to leave meteor trains, but you might be lucky and see one.

9. Bring a blanket, a buddy, a hot drink and a lawn chair

A reclining lawn chair helps you lie back in comfort for an hour or more of meteor-watching.

If several of you are watching, take different parts of the sky. If you see one, shout “Meteor!” Dress warmly; the nights can be cool or cold, even during the summer months. You’ll probably appreciate that blanket and warm drink in the wee hours of the morning. Also, leave your laptops and tablets home; even using the nighttime dark mode will ruin your night vision. And this will be tough on some people: leave your cell phone in your pocket or the car. It can also ruin your night vision.

10. Enjoy nature

Relax and enjoy the night sky. Not every meteor shower is a winner. Sometimes, you may come away from a shower seeing only one meteor. But if that one meteor is bright, and takes a slow path across a starry night sky … it’ll be worth it.

To be successful at observing any meteor shower, you need to get into a kind of zen state, waiting and expecting the meteors to come to you, if you place yourself in a good position (country location, wide open sky) to see them.

Or forget the zen state, and let yourself be guided by this old meteor watcher’s motto:

You might see a lot or you might not see many, but if you stay in the house, you won’t see any.

Photos of meteors from EarthSky’s community

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tameem Altameemi of United Arab Emirates submitted this photo on December 14, 2024, and wrote: “My brother and I decided to go to an area away from light pollution between the mountains in UAE, and despite the moonlight that filled the place, we were able to see and photograph many meteors and fireballs. A special and completely clear night.” Thank you, Tameem!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Evans of California captured a Lyrid meteor zipping along the Milky way on April 22, 2025. Jeremy wrote: “Lyrids Meteor Shower at peak activity. It was a quiet shower this year. I had my camera going all night and only caught one meteor. This single frame is from an all-night 1,200 frame time lapse on my front deck. I’m very fortunate to live under dark Bortle 2 skies. The glow on the horizon is from the last quarter moon just before rising. This meteor also left smoke trails.” Thank you, Jeremy.

More meteor photos

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Some of the stars of the Big Dipper are part of an open cluster called the Ursa Major Moving Group. Susan Jensen captured this image on September 6, 2024, and wrote: “Right place, right time! Standing on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, looking across a stubble field. This slow-moving, vibrant meteor stopped me in my tracks! I was shooting the Big Dipper with the shutter locked to catch multiple frames for stacking when this monster did a slow flyby. How lucky that I was able to capture it!” Thank you, Susan!

Bottom line: Meteor showers are unpredictable but always a fun and relaxing time. Optimize your viewing with these tips.

Post your own photos at EarthSky Community Photos

When is the next meteor shower? Click here for EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

The post Meteor showers are here! 10 easy tips for watching first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/q6c4FDk

Hooray! It’s meteor time! That’s right, the Geminid meteor shower has been rambling across the sky since late November. Plus, it blends in with the Ursid meteor shower. And 2026 starts off with the Quadrantid meteor shower on the morning of January 4.

When is the next meteor shower? Click here for EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

So, how can you optimize your chances of seeing a great meteor display? Follow the tips below.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Victor Rogus captured this image on January 3, 2025, in Sedona, Arizona, and wrote: “A very bright meteor, a bolide, struck just before dawn this morning. Our Oculus camera caught the strike. This may have been a Quadrantid meteor; that shower peaks tonight. I froze one night in the backwoods of Missouri to capture my one and only Quadrantid. So this one made my day!” Thank you, Victor! See more images of meteor showers below.

1. Know the peak time

Generally, meteor showers happen over many days as Earth encounters a wide stream of icy particles in space. These particles are debris left behind by a comet. So the peak is a point in time when Earth is expected to encounter the greatest number of comet particles. To find the peak dates of meteor showers, check EarthSky’s meteor guide.

And here’s the catch … the peak of the shower comes at the same time for all of us on Earth. Meanwhile, our clocks are saying different times. You’ll often need to adjust from UTC to your local time.

However, the predictions are not always right on the money. And remember … it’s possible to see nice meteor displays in the hours – even days – before or after the predicted peak.

Also, keep in mind that meteor showers are part of nature. So naturally, they often defy prediction.

2. Location, location, location

We can’t say this strongly enough. It’s important to have a dark place to observe in the country. Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze.

And … you need a wide-open view of the sky. A farmer’s field? Maybe a stretch of country road? Or a campsite with a clear view in one or more directions? That’s because an open sky will increase your chances of seeing some meteors.

3. Oh no! The moon is out

During a meteor shower, a bright moon is not your friend. In fact, nothing dampens the display of a meteor shower more effectively than a bright moon.

If the moon is out, look at areas of the sky away from the moon. Anything in the moon’s vicinity – including meteors – will likely be washed out by its bright light. And, another tip for watching in moonlight: place some object between yourself and the moon. Observing from the shadow of a barn, or vehicle, even a tree, can help you see more meteors. Basically, place yourself somewhere in the moon’s shadow.

4. Know the expected rate

Here, we touch on a topic that sometimes leads to some disappointment, especially among novice meteor-watchers: the rate.

Tables of meteor showers almost always list what is known as the zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) for each shower.

So the ZHR is the number of meteors you’ll see if you’re watching in a very dark sky, with the radiant overhead, when the shower is at its peak. In other words, the ZHR represents the number of meteors you might see per hour given the very best observing conditions during the shower’s maximum.

If the peak occurs when it’s still daylight at your location, if most of the meteors are predominantly faint, if a bright moon is out or if you’re located in a light-polluted area, the total number of meteors you see will be considerably reduced.

5. Don’t worry too much about radiant points

You don’t need to stare all night in a single direction – or even locate the radiant point – to have fun watching the shower. The meteors will appear all over the sky.

But … although you can see meteors shoot up from the horizon before a shower’s radiant rises, you’ll see more meteors after it rises. And you’ll see the most when the radiant is highest in the sky. So, find out the radiant point’s rising time. Then you can pinpoint the best time of night to watch the shower.

And … the radiant point is interesting. If you track meteors backward on the sky’s dome, you’ll find them streaming from their radiant point, a single point within a given constellation. Hence the meteor shower’s name.

6. Watch for an hour or more

Meteor showers will be better if you let your eyes adapt to the dark. That can take as long as 20 minutes. Plus, the meteors tend to come in spurts, followed by lulls. So, be patient! You’ll see some.

7. Notice the meteors’ speeds and colors

The recent Leonids are the swiftest meteors and the recent Taurids are the slowest meteors. The nice thing about a slow or medium speed meteor shower – such as the Geminids – is if you see one and yell “meteor,” other people can catch it as well.

In fact, all upcoming meteor showers … the Geminids, the Ursids and the Quadrantids are medium speed showers.

Plus, the December Geminids, like the August Perseids, can be colorful.

8. Watch for meteor trains

A meteor train is a persistent glow in the air left by some meteors after they have faded from view. Trains are from luminous ionized matter left in the wake of this incoming space debris. About 10% of the Delta Aquariid meteors leave a persistent train. None of the December or January meteor showers tend to leave meteor trains, but you might be lucky and see one.

9. Bring a blanket, a buddy, a hot drink and a lawn chair

A reclining lawn chair helps you lie back in comfort for an hour or more of meteor-watching.

If several of you are watching, take different parts of the sky. If you see one, shout “Meteor!” Dress warmly; the nights can be cool or cold, even during the summer months. You’ll probably appreciate that blanket and warm drink in the wee hours of the morning. Also, leave your laptops and tablets home; even using the nighttime dark mode will ruin your night vision. And this will be tough on some people: leave your cell phone in your pocket or the car. It can also ruin your night vision.

10. Enjoy nature

Relax and enjoy the night sky. Not every meteor shower is a winner. Sometimes, you may come away from a shower seeing only one meteor. But if that one meteor is bright, and takes a slow path across a starry night sky … it’ll be worth it.

To be successful at observing any meteor shower, you need to get into a kind of zen state, waiting and expecting the meteors to come to you, if you place yourself in a good position (country location, wide open sky) to see them.

Or forget the zen state, and let yourself be guided by this old meteor watcher’s motto:

You might see a lot or you might not see many, but if you stay in the house, you won’t see any.

Photos of meteors from EarthSky’s community

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tameem Altameemi of United Arab Emirates submitted this photo on December 14, 2024, and wrote: “My brother and I decided to go to an area away from light pollution between the mountains in UAE, and despite the moonlight that filled the place, we were able to see and photograph many meteors and fireballs. A special and completely clear night.” Thank you, Tameem!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Evans of California captured a Lyrid meteor zipping along the Milky way on April 22, 2025. Jeremy wrote: “Lyrids Meteor Shower at peak activity. It was a quiet shower this year. I had my camera going all night and only caught one meteor. This single frame is from an all-night 1,200 frame time lapse on my front deck. I’m very fortunate to live under dark Bortle 2 skies. The glow on the horizon is from the last quarter moon just before rising. This meteor also left smoke trails.” Thank you, Jeremy.

More meteor photos

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Some of the stars of the Big Dipper are part of an open cluster called the Ursa Major Moving Group. Susan Jensen captured this image on September 6, 2024, and wrote: “Right place, right time! Standing on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, looking across a stubble field. This slow-moving, vibrant meteor stopped me in my tracks! I was shooting the Big Dipper with the shutter locked to catch multiple frames for stacking when this monster did a slow flyby. How lucky that I was able to capture it!” Thank you, Susan!

Bottom line: Meteor showers are unpredictable but always a fun and relaxing time. Optimize your viewing with these tips.

Post your own photos at EarthSky Community Photos

When is the next meteor shower? Click here for EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

The post Meteor showers are here! 10 easy tips for watching first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/q6c4FDk

Long-lasting gamma-ray burst is a unique puzzle

Unusually long gamma-ray bursts require more exotic origins than typical gamma-ray bursts. This animation illustrates one proposed explanation. It shows a black hole eating a stellar-mass star. As the black hole makes its last few orbits, it pulls large amounts of gas from the star. The system begins to shine brightly in X-rays. Then, as the black hole enters the main body of the star, it rapidly consumes stellar matter, resulting in a gamma-ray burst. Video via NASA/ LSU/ Brian Monroe.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

• Astronomers spotted a gamma-ray burst – named GRB 250702B – on July 2, 2025. It’s the longest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, lasting at least seven hours, nearly double the previous record.
• The rare, long-duration burst may reveal new ways to create gamma-ray bursts. And it suggests there may be previously unseen types of cosmic explosions.
• One explanation is that a black hole about three times the sun’s mass – with an event horizon just 11 miles (18 kilometers) across – merged with a companion star.

NASA published this original story on December 8, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.

Gamma-ray burst is the longest on record

Astronomers have been poring over a flood of data from NASA satellites and other facilities. They’re trying to work out what was responsible for an extraordinary cosmic outburst discovered on July 2, 2025.

The event was a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful class of cosmic explosions. Most gamma-ray bursts last only a minute. But this initial wave of gamma rays lasted at least seven hours, and jet activity continued for days.

Researchers have been eagerly discussing their findings. They agree the unprecedented event likely heralds a new kind of stellar explosion. And they said the best explanation for the outburst is that a black hole consumed a star. But they disagree on exactly how it happened. Exciting possibilities include a black hole weighing a few thousand times the sun’s mass shredding a star that passed too close to it or a much smaller black hole merging with and consuming its stellar companion.

Eliza Neights at George Washington University in Washington and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said:

The initial wave of gamma rays lasted at least 7 hours, nearly twice the duration of the longest gamma-ray burst seen previously, and we detected other unusual properties. This is certainly an outburst unlike any other we’ve seen in the past 50 years.

Neights and other astronomers shared their results in October at the American Astronomical Society’s High Energy Astrophysics Division meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Researchers have already published a variety of papers on the event, and more have been accepted or are being prepared.

An exceptional burst

Detected about once a day on average, gamma-ray bursts can appear anywhere in the sky with no warning. They are very distant events, with the closest-known example erupting more than 100 million light-years away.

The record-setting duration of the July burst – named GRB 250702B – places it in a class by itself. Of the roughly 15,000 gamma-ray bursts observed since astronomers first discovered the phenomenon in 1973, none are as long, and only a half dozen even come close. Because opportunities to study such events are so rare, and because they may reveal new ways to create gamma-ray bursts, astronomers are particularly excited about the July burst.

Most bursts last from a few milliseconds to a few minutes. Also, they’re known to form in two ways: either by a merger of two city-sized neutron stars or the collapse of a massive star once its core runs out of fuel. Each produces a new black hole. Some of the matter falling toward the black hole becomes channeled into tight jets of particles that stream out at almost the speed of light, creating gamma rays as they go. But neither of these types of bursts can readily create jets able to fire for days, which is why 250702B poses a unique puzzle.

Seeing the light

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovered the burst. It triggered the instrument multiple times over the course of three hours. Also detecting the burst was: the Burst Alert Telescope on NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, the Russian Konus instrument on NASA’s Wind mission, the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer on Psyche – a NASA spacecraft currently en route to asteroid 16 Psyche – and Japan’s Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image instrument on the International Space Station.

Eric Burns is an astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and a member of Neights’ team studying the burst’s gamma-ray glow. Burns said:

The burst went on for so long that no high-energy monitor in space was equipped to fully observe it. Only through the combined power of instruments on multiple spacecraft could we understand this event.

The Wide-field X-ray Telescope on China’s Einstein Probe also detected the burst in X-rays. And it showed that a signal was present the previous day. The first precise location came early July 3 when Swift’s X-Ray Telescope imaged the burst in the constellation Scutum, near the crowded, dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Given this location and the day-earlier X-ray detection, astronomers wondered if this event might be a different type of outburst from somewhere within our own galaxy.

This visualization illustrates the process of pinpointing the location of the July 2 outburst and its host galaxy. Multiple facilities in space and on Earth, collecting light across the spectrum, guided astronomers to the source. Video via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and A. Mellinger, CMU.

A galaxy behind our galaxy

Images from some of the largest telescopes on the planet, including those at the Keck and Gemini observatories on Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, hinted there was a galaxy at the spot. So astronomers turned to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope for a clearer view.

Andrew Levan, an astrophysics professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands, led the VLT and Hubble study. Levan said:

It’s definitely a galaxy, proving it was a distant and powerful explosion, but it is a strange looking one. The Hubble data could either show two galaxies merging, or one galaxy with a dark band of dust splitting the core into two pieces.

More recent images captured by the NIRcam instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope strongly support Levan’s interpretation. Huei Sears, a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey who led the NIRcam observations, said:

The resolution of Webb is unbelievable. We can see so clearly that the burst shined through this dust lane spilling across the galaxy. It’s fantastic to see the gamma-ray burst host in such detail.

This brief animation compares the brightness and duration of a typical gamma-ray burst (yellow) to that of the July 2 outburst (magenta). A typical burst lasts less than a minute. But GRB 250702B’s activity continued for more than 7 hours. Video via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Gamma-ray burst of epic proportions

In late August, a team led by Benjamin Gompertz at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. used Webb’s NIRSpec instrument and the VLT to determine the galaxy’s distance and other properties. Gompertz said:

The burst was remarkably powerful, erupting with the equivalent energy emitted by a thousand suns shining for 10 billion years. Amazingly, the galaxy is so far away that light from this explosion began racing outward about 8 billion years ago, long before our sun and solar system had even begun to form.

A comprehensive study of the X-ray light following the main burst used observations from Swift, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the agency’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission. Swift and NuSTAR data revealed rapid flares occurring up to two days after the burst’s discovery.

Study leader Brendan O’Connor, a McWilliams Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said:

The continued accretion of matter by the black hole powered an outflow that produced these flares, but the process continued far longer than is possible in standard gamma-ray burst models. The late X-ray flares show us that the blast’s power source refused to shut off, which means the black hole kept feeding for at least a few days after the initial eruption.

Left: Star field around the host galaxy of GRB 250702B. Right: Close-up view of the host galaxy. This image, spanning 9.5 arcseconds, is the result of over 2 hours of observations, yet the host galaxy is barely visible due to all the dust surrounding it. Image via NASA/ International Gemini Observatory/ CTIO/ NOIRLab/ DOE/ NSF/ AURA. Image processing: M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab).

Conflicting evidence for the gamma-ray burst

Fermi and Swift data indicate a typical, if unusually long, gamma-ray burst. Spectroscopic Webb observations did not find a supernova explosion. These typically follow a stellar collapse gamma-ray burst. However, dust and distance might have obscured it. Einstein Probe saw X-rays a day before the burst, while NuSTAR tracked X-ray flares up to two days after. Neither is typical for gamma-ray bursts.

In addition, Jonathan Carney, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, led a detailed study that the host galaxy is different from the small galaxies that host most stellar collapse gamma-ray bursts. Carney said:

This galaxy turns out to be surprisingly large, with more than twice the mass of our own galaxy.

In either of the two most discussed scenarios, the black hole will have eaten the star in about a day.

The first invokes an intermediate-mass black hole, one with a few thousand solar masses and an event horizon – the point of no return – a few times larger than Earth. A star wanders too close and becomes stretched along its orbit by gravitational forces. Then the black hole rapidly consumes it. This describes what astronomers call a tidal disruption event, but one caused by a rarely observed “middleweight” black hole. Middleweight black holes have a mass much greater than those born in a stellar collapse and much smaller than the behemoths found in the centers of big galaxies.

A different scenario

But the gamma-ray team favors a different scenario. Because, if this burst is like others, the black hole’s mass must be more similar to our sun’s. Their model envisions a black hole about three times the sun’s mass – with an event horizon just 11 miles (18 kilometers) across – orbiting and merging with a companion star. The star is of similar mass to the black hole but much smaller than the sun. That’s because its hydrogen atmosphere has mostly been stripped away, down to its dense helium core, forming an object astronomers call a helium star.

In both cases, matter from the star first flows toward the black hole and collects into a vast disk, from which the gas makes its final plunge into the black hole. At some point in this process, the system begins to shine brightly in X-rays. Then, as the black hole rapidly consumes the star’s matter, gamma-ray jets blast outward.

Notably, the helium star merger model makes a unique prediction. Once the black hole is totally immersed within the main body of the star, feasting on it from within, the energy it releases explodes the star and powers a supernova.

Unfortunately, this explosion occurred behind enormous amounts of dust, meaning even the power of the Webb telescope was not enough to see the expected supernova. While smoking-gun evidence to explain what happened on July 2 will have to wait for future events, 250702B has already provided new insight into the longest gamma-ray bursts. That’s thanks in large part to the constant cosmic monitoring of NASA’s fleet of observatories and instruments as part of the agency’s quest to explore and understand the universe.

A peek at the host galaxy

On October 5, 2025, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope gave astronomers their clearest view of GRB 250702B’s host galaxy, which is so far away its light takes about 8 billion years to reach us. In the inset, tick marks indicate the burst’s position near the top edge of the galaxy’s dark dust lane. This location eliminates the possibility that the burst was associated with the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ H. Sears (Rutgers). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI).

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society has accepted the Neights-led gamma-ray paper for publication. The Astrophysical Journal Letters – which published the Carney paper November 26, the O’Connor X-ray paper on November 14, and the Levan paper on August 29 – has accepted the Gompertz NIRSpec paper for publication.

Bottom line: We now have more insight on the longest gamma-ray burst yet. The burst lasted at least seven hours, nearly double that of the previous record.

Via NASA

The post Long-lasting gamma-ray burst is a unique puzzle first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/MXdleyJ

Unusually long gamma-ray bursts require more exotic origins than typical gamma-ray bursts. This animation illustrates one proposed explanation. It shows a black hole eating a stellar-mass star. As the black hole makes its last few orbits, it pulls large amounts of gas from the star. The system begins to shine brightly in X-rays. Then, as the black hole enters the main body of the star, it rapidly consumes stellar matter, resulting in a gamma-ray burst. Video via NASA/ LSU/ Brian Monroe.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

• Astronomers spotted a gamma-ray burst – named GRB 250702B – on July 2, 2025. It’s the longest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, lasting at least seven hours, nearly double the previous record.
• The rare, long-duration burst may reveal new ways to create gamma-ray bursts. And it suggests there may be previously unseen types of cosmic explosions.
• One explanation is that a black hole about three times the sun’s mass – with an event horizon just 11 miles (18 kilometers) across – merged with a companion star.

NASA published this original story on December 8, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.

Gamma-ray burst is the longest on record

Astronomers have been poring over a flood of data from NASA satellites and other facilities. They’re trying to work out what was responsible for an extraordinary cosmic outburst discovered on July 2, 2025.

The event was a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful class of cosmic explosions. Most gamma-ray bursts last only a minute. But this initial wave of gamma rays lasted at least seven hours, and jet activity continued for days.

Researchers have been eagerly discussing their findings. They agree the unprecedented event likely heralds a new kind of stellar explosion. And they said the best explanation for the outburst is that a black hole consumed a star. But they disagree on exactly how it happened. Exciting possibilities include a black hole weighing a few thousand times the sun’s mass shredding a star that passed too close to it or a much smaller black hole merging with and consuming its stellar companion.

Eliza Neights at George Washington University in Washington and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said:

The initial wave of gamma rays lasted at least 7 hours, nearly twice the duration of the longest gamma-ray burst seen previously, and we detected other unusual properties. This is certainly an outburst unlike any other we’ve seen in the past 50 years.

Neights and other astronomers shared their results in October at the American Astronomical Society’s High Energy Astrophysics Division meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Researchers have already published a variety of papers on the event, and more have been accepted or are being prepared.

An exceptional burst

Detected about once a day on average, gamma-ray bursts can appear anywhere in the sky with no warning. They are very distant events, with the closest-known example erupting more than 100 million light-years away.

The record-setting duration of the July burst – named GRB 250702B – places it in a class by itself. Of the roughly 15,000 gamma-ray bursts observed since astronomers first discovered the phenomenon in 1973, none are as long, and only a half dozen even come close. Because opportunities to study such events are so rare, and because they may reveal new ways to create gamma-ray bursts, astronomers are particularly excited about the July burst.

Most bursts last from a few milliseconds to a few minutes. Also, they’re known to form in two ways: either by a merger of two city-sized neutron stars or the collapse of a massive star once its core runs out of fuel. Each produces a new black hole. Some of the matter falling toward the black hole becomes channeled into tight jets of particles that stream out at almost the speed of light, creating gamma rays as they go. But neither of these types of bursts can readily create jets able to fire for days, which is why 250702B poses a unique puzzle.

Seeing the light

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovered the burst. It triggered the instrument multiple times over the course of three hours. Also detecting the burst was: the Burst Alert Telescope on NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, the Russian Konus instrument on NASA’s Wind mission, the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer on Psyche – a NASA spacecraft currently en route to asteroid 16 Psyche – and Japan’s Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image instrument on the International Space Station.

Eric Burns is an astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and a member of Neights’ team studying the burst’s gamma-ray glow. Burns said:

The burst went on for so long that no high-energy monitor in space was equipped to fully observe it. Only through the combined power of instruments on multiple spacecraft could we understand this event.

The Wide-field X-ray Telescope on China’s Einstein Probe also detected the burst in X-rays. And it showed that a signal was present the previous day. The first precise location came early July 3 when Swift’s X-Ray Telescope imaged the burst in the constellation Scutum, near the crowded, dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Given this location and the day-earlier X-ray detection, astronomers wondered if this event might be a different type of outburst from somewhere within our own galaxy.

This visualization illustrates the process of pinpointing the location of the July 2 outburst and its host galaxy. Multiple facilities in space and on Earth, collecting light across the spectrum, guided astronomers to the source. Video via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and A. Mellinger, CMU.

A galaxy behind our galaxy

Images from some of the largest telescopes on the planet, including those at the Keck and Gemini observatories on Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, hinted there was a galaxy at the spot. So astronomers turned to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope for a clearer view.

Andrew Levan, an astrophysics professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands, led the VLT and Hubble study. Levan said:

It’s definitely a galaxy, proving it was a distant and powerful explosion, but it is a strange looking one. The Hubble data could either show two galaxies merging, or one galaxy with a dark band of dust splitting the core into two pieces.

More recent images captured by the NIRcam instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope strongly support Levan’s interpretation. Huei Sears, a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey who led the NIRcam observations, said:

The resolution of Webb is unbelievable. We can see so clearly that the burst shined through this dust lane spilling across the galaxy. It’s fantastic to see the gamma-ray burst host in such detail.

This brief animation compares the brightness and duration of a typical gamma-ray burst (yellow) to that of the July 2 outburst (magenta). A typical burst lasts less than a minute. But GRB 250702B’s activity continued for more than 7 hours. Video via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Gamma-ray burst of epic proportions

In late August, a team led by Benjamin Gompertz at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. used Webb’s NIRSpec instrument and the VLT to determine the galaxy’s distance and other properties. Gompertz said:

The burst was remarkably powerful, erupting with the equivalent energy emitted by a thousand suns shining for 10 billion years. Amazingly, the galaxy is so far away that light from this explosion began racing outward about 8 billion years ago, long before our sun and solar system had even begun to form.

A comprehensive study of the X-ray light following the main burst used observations from Swift, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the agency’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission. Swift and NuSTAR data revealed rapid flares occurring up to two days after the burst’s discovery.

Study leader Brendan O’Connor, a McWilliams Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said:

The continued accretion of matter by the black hole powered an outflow that produced these flares, but the process continued far longer than is possible in standard gamma-ray burst models. The late X-ray flares show us that the blast’s power source refused to shut off, which means the black hole kept feeding for at least a few days after the initial eruption.

Left: Star field around the host galaxy of GRB 250702B. Right: Close-up view of the host galaxy. This image, spanning 9.5 arcseconds, is the result of over 2 hours of observations, yet the host galaxy is barely visible due to all the dust surrounding it. Image via NASA/ International Gemini Observatory/ CTIO/ NOIRLab/ DOE/ NSF/ AURA. Image processing: M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab).

Conflicting evidence for the gamma-ray burst

Fermi and Swift data indicate a typical, if unusually long, gamma-ray burst. Spectroscopic Webb observations did not find a supernova explosion. These typically follow a stellar collapse gamma-ray burst. However, dust and distance might have obscured it. Einstein Probe saw X-rays a day before the burst, while NuSTAR tracked X-ray flares up to two days after. Neither is typical for gamma-ray bursts.

In addition, Jonathan Carney, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, led a detailed study that the host galaxy is different from the small galaxies that host most stellar collapse gamma-ray bursts. Carney said:

This galaxy turns out to be surprisingly large, with more than twice the mass of our own galaxy.

In either of the two most discussed scenarios, the black hole will have eaten the star in about a day.

The first invokes an intermediate-mass black hole, one with a few thousand solar masses and an event horizon – the point of no return – a few times larger than Earth. A star wanders too close and becomes stretched along its orbit by gravitational forces. Then the black hole rapidly consumes it. This describes what astronomers call a tidal disruption event, but one caused by a rarely observed “middleweight” black hole. Middleweight black holes have a mass much greater than those born in a stellar collapse and much smaller than the behemoths found in the centers of big galaxies.

A different scenario

But the gamma-ray team favors a different scenario. Because, if this burst is like others, the black hole’s mass must be more similar to our sun’s. Their model envisions a black hole about three times the sun’s mass – with an event horizon just 11 miles (18 kilometers) across – orbiting and merging with a companion star. The star is of similar mass to the black hole but much smaller than the sun. That’s because its hydrogen atmosphere has mostly been stripped away, down to its dense helium core, forming an object astronomers call a helium star.

In both cases, matter from the star first flows toward the black hole and collects into a vast disk, from which the gas makes its final plunge into the black hole. At some point in this process, the system begins to shine brightly in X-rays. Then, as the black hole rapidly consumes the star’s matter, gamma-ray jets blast outward.

Notably, the helium star merger model makes a unique prediction. Once the black hole is totally immersed within the main body of the star, feasting on it from within, the energy it releases explodes the star and powers a supernova.

Unfortunately, this explosion occurred behind enormous amounts of dust, meaning even the power of the Webb telescope was not enough to see the expected supernova. While smoking-gun evidence to explain what happened on July 2 will have to wait for future events, 250702B has already provided new insight into the longest gamma-ray bursts. That’s thanks in large part to the constant cosmic monitoring of NASA’s fleet of observatories and instruments as part of the agency’s quest to explore and understand the universe.

A peek at the host galaxy

On October 5, 2025, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope gave astronomers their clearest view of GRB 250702B’s host galaxy, which is so far away its light takes about 8 billion years to reach us. In the inset, tick marks indicate the burst’s position near the top edge of the galaxy’s dark dust lane. This location eliminates the possibility that the burst was associated with the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core. Image via NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ H. Sears (Rutgers). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI).

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society has accepted the Neights-led gamma-ray paper for publication. The Astrophysical Journal Letters – which published the Carney paper November 26, the O’Connor X-ray paper on November 14, and the Levan paper on August 29 – has accepted the Gompertz NIRSpec paper for publication.

Bottom line: We now have more insight on the longest gamma-ray burst yet. The burst lasted at least seven hours, nearly double that of the previous record.

Via NASA

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New fairy lantern plant discovered at popular Malaysian park

On the left, the 2 women integral to this discovery. Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, the paper’s lead author, holds specimens of the new fairy lantern Thismia selangorensis. Next to her is Gim Siew Tan, who found the new species. On the right is a closeup of the plant. Images via Pensoft Publishers.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

• A naturalist in Malaysia discovered a new fairy lantern plant. Scientists named it Thismia selangorensis.
• The tiny, delicate species is extremely rare, with fewer than 20 known plants.
• Scientists warn it is critically endangered and needs careful protection.

Extraordinary new plant species discovered at busy park

In November 2023, naturalist Gim Siew Tan was exploring a local nature reserve near Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is a popular picnic and camping destination, the last place she would expect to find a new plant species. Yet, there it was, growing against the odds, in a park frequented by many people. Tan had discovered the delicate flower of a diminutive plant that is a new species of fairy lantern. Scientists described this exquisite new species in a paper published in late November 2025. They named it Thismia selangorensis.

Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, is the paper’s lead author. She said, in a blog by Pensoft Publishers:

This discovery shows that significant scientific finds are not limited to remote jungles; they can also be made in ordinary environments where constant human activity leaves little room for expectation. Protecting Thismia selangorensis will require cooperation among researchers, the forest department, stakeholders, and the public, as its survival depends on how carefully we tread in its habitat.

The researchers published their study in the peer-reviewed journal PhytoKeys on November 28, 2025.

Fairy lanterns are parasitic plants

Fairy lanterns – which belong to the genus Thismia – are myco-heterotrophic plants. That means they don’t have chlorophyll like most plants. Therefore, they don’t get their energy from the sun. Instead, they’re parasites, stealing nutrients from fungi living in the soil.

There are 120 known Thismia plants, found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. They usually grow in undisturbed tropical forests and in moist shaded soil, surrounded by leaf litter. These plants are tuberous, which means they store food in swollen underground structures called tubers. They are most visible when they produce flowers. In addition, fungus gnats pollinate many types of Thismia flowers.

A rare new fairy lantern

Scientists named this new fairy lantern species Thismia selangorensis, after the Malaysian state – Selangor – where they found it.

Thismia selangorensis produces flowers between October and February. When flowering, the plant is only 4 inches (10 cm) tall. As a result, it is only visible when the flowers are out. Moreover, each plant produces one flower, colored a peach-pink shade.

Each flower has a lower cup with stripes. Above it grows an umbrella-like mitre. In addition, three slim club-like appendages emerge from that mitre. The flower itself is connected to a short stem which ends in stubby coralliform roots (small roots having the branching structure of corals).

Discoverer Gim Siew Tan photographed these 2 Thismia selangorensis fairy lanterns. Image via Gim Siew Tan/ Pensoft Publishers.

Finding this new fairy lantern species

Despite decades of human activity in the area, the new species remained undiscovered until naturalist Gim Siew Tan found it in November 2023. At the time, Tan was on a routine photography excursion at Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Chongkak, part of the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve, not far from Kuala Lumpur. She first spotted the plant’s delicate flower nestled in a hole at the base of a riverside tree, like it was living in a tiny cave.

Subsequently, Tan and other researchers found more plants growing in moist soil among fallen leaves and along roots near the bases of riverside trees. There are less than 20 known individual plants, all within just a 1.5-square-mile area (4 square km). That’s a tiny population in an area that many people visit. As a result, scientists consider Thismia selangorensis a critically endangered species, following standards in the IUCN Red List.

This is the new fairy lantern, Thismia selangorensis, as an undeveloped flower. Image via Gim Siew Tan/ MY Siti-Munirah, et al.

An urgent need to conserve this rare species

Researchers found the plants in a part of the forest that has remained relatively undisturbed. However, these fairy lanterns are growing close to campsites and picnic areas. As a result, people may inadvertently trample on them. Furthermore, the plants are vulnerable to flooding.

Scientists strongly recommend careful management of the area to preserve Thismia selangorensis. They also plan to continue monitoring the plants they have already discovered and search for more specimens outside its currently known range.

Siti-Munirah commented:

The most important effort now is to raise awareness about this species so the public realizes that it exists – right here, in this small corner of the world, and nowhere else, at least for now. Understanding its presence is the first step towards ensuring that this extraordinary plant is not lost before many people even know it exists.

Bottom line: Scientists have discovered an exquisite new species of fairy lantern – called Thismia selangorensis – at a park near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Source: Thismia selangorensis (Thismiaceae): a new mitriform fairy lantern species from Selangor, Malaysia

Via Pensoft Publishers

Read more: Frog saunas could help frogs threatened by fungus

Dead man’s fingers are our creepy lifeform of the week

The post New fairy lantern plant discovered at popular Malaysian park first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/21UdzZ9

On the left, the 2 women integral to this discovery. Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, the paper’s lead author, holds specimens of the new fairy lantern Thismia selangorensis. Next to her is Gim Siew Tan, who found the new species. On the right is a closeup of the plant. Images via Pensoft Publishers.

EarthSky’s 2026 lunar calendar is available now. Get yours today! Makes a great gift.

• A naturalist in Malaysia discovered a new fairy lantern plant. Scientists named it Thismia selangorensis.
• The tiny, delicate species is extremely rare, with fewer than 20 known plants.
• Scientists warn it is critically endangered and needs careful protection.

Extraordinary new plant species discovered at busy park

In November 2023, naturalist Gim Siew Tan was exploring a local nature reserve near Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is a popular picnic and camping destination, the last place she would expect to find a new plant species. Yet, there it was, growing against the odds, in a park frequented by many people. Tan had discovered the delicate flower of a diminutive plant that is a new species of fairy lantern. Scientists described this exquisite new species in a paper published in late November 2025. They named it Thismia selangorensis.

Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, is the paper’s lead author. She said, in a blog by Pensoft Publishers:

This discovery shows that significant scientific finds are not limited to remote jungles; they can also be made in ordinary environments where constant human activity leaves little room for expectation. Protecting Thismia selangorensis will require cooperation among researchers, the forest department, stakeholders, and the public, as its survival depends on how carefully we tread in its habitat.

The researchers published their study in the peer-reviewed journal PhytoKeys on November 28, 2025.

Fairy lanterns are parasitic plants

Fairy lanterns – which belong to the genus Thismia – are myco-heterotrophic plants. That means they don’t have chlorophyll like most plants. Therefore, they don’t get their energy from the sun. Instead, they’re parasites, stealing nutrients from fungi living in the soil.

There are 120 known Thismia plants, found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. They usually grow in undisturbed tropical forests and in moist shaded soil, surrounded by leaf litter. These plants are tuberous, which means they store food in swollen underground structures called tubers. They are most visible when they produce flowers. In addition, fungus gnats pollinate many types of Thismia flowers.

A rare new fairy lantern

Scientists named this new fairy lantern species Thismia selangorensis, after the Malaysian state – Selangor – where they found it.

Thismia selangorensis produces flowers between October and February. When flowering, the plant is only 4 inches (10 cm) tall. As a result, it is only visible when the flowers are out. Moreover, each plant produces one flower, colored a peach-pink shade.

Each flower has a lower cup with stripes. Above it grows an umbrella-like mitre. In addition, three slim club-like appendages emerge from that mitre. The flower itself is connected to a short stem which ends in stubby coralliform roots (small roots having the branching structure of corals).

Discoverer Gim Siew Tan photographed these 2 Thismia selangorensis fairy lanterns. Image via Gim Siew Tan/ Pensoft Publishers.

Finding this new fairy lantern species

Despite decades of human activity in the area, the new species remained undiscovered until naturalist Gim Siew Tan found it in November 2023. At the time, Tan was on a routine photography excursion at Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Chongkak, part of the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve, not far from Kuala Lumpur. She first spotted the plant’s delicate flower nestled in a hole at the base of a riverside tree, like it was living in a tiny cave.

Subsequently, Tan and other researchers found more plants growing in moist soil among fallen leaves and along roots near the bases of riverside trees. There are less than 20 known individual plants, all within just a 1.5-square-mile area (4 square km). That’s a tiny population in an area that many people visit. As a result, scientists consider Thismia selangorensis a critically endangered species, following standards in the IUCN Red List.

This is the new fairy lantern, Thismia selangorensis, as an undeveloped flower. Image via Gim Siew Tan/ MY Siti-Munirah, et al.

An urgent need to conserve this rare species

Researchers found the plants in a part of the forest that has remained relatively undisturbed. However, these fairy lanterns are growing close to campsites and picnic areas. As a result, people may inadvertently trample on them. Furthermore, the plants are vulnerable to flooding.

Scientists strongly recommend careful management of the area to preserve Thismia selangorensis. They also plan to continue monitoring the plants they have already discovered and search for more specimens outside its currently known range.

Siti-Munirah commented:

The most important effort now is to raise awareness about this species so the public realizes that it exists – right here, in this small corner of the world, and nowhere else, at least for now. Understanding its presence is the first step towards ensuring that this extraordinary plant is not lost before many people even know it exists.

Bottom line: Scientists have discovered an exquisite new species of fairy lantern – called Thismia selangorensis – at a park near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Source: Thismia selangorensis (Thismiaceae): a new mitriform fairy lantern species from Selangor, Malaysia

Via Pensoft Publishers

Read more: Frog saunas could help frogs threatened by fungus

Dead man’s fingers are our creepy lifeform of the week

The post New fairy lantern plant discovered at popular Malaysian park first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/21UdzZ9