A spectacular meteor shower has an origin story in a "violent, catastrophic event," a new study suggests.
Meteor showers usually come from comets, icy bodies sometimes called "dirty snowballs" that circle the solar system. The Geminid meteor shower, or Geminids, however, come from an asteroid or space rock known as 3200 Phaethon. Every December, the Earth runs through the dust stream left behind by Phaethon and the tiny grains provide a light show high in the atmosphere.
