By YOSUKE FUKUDOME/ Staff Writer
December 14, 2021 at 18:05 JST
A composite image of Mount Fuji and the Geminid meteor shower taken at 10:12 p.m. and 11 p.m. in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture on Dec. 13 (Yosuke Fukuduome)
FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Yamanashi Prefecture--For those wishing upon a shooting star, snow-capped Mount Fuji in the background fulfilled the desires of skywatchers wanting the perfect setting for this year's spectacular Geminid meteor shower.
Countless meteors were spotted streaking across the sky between late night on Dec. 13 and the early hours of Dec. 14, mesmerizing viewers who gathered at Saiko lake near the mountain for the annual phenomenon.
Meteors became more clearly visible on Dec. 14 after the sky darkened at around 2 a.m., following the setting of the moon, which was about 80 percent full.
Onlookers shouted, “awesome,” and “how beautiful,” when two shooting stars were viewed simultaneously and when a bright meteor with a long tail was observed darting across the sky.
Although it was freezing as the temperature dipped below zero in the early morning of Dec. 14, the celestial vista warmed every heart with an additional treat: A display of the most famed mountain in Japan as reflected in the placid waters of the lake.
The Geminid meteor shower can be seen every December, created by debris from the asteroid Phaethon, and appear to radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini.
Geminid meteor shower lights up night sky until dawn Dec. 15
December 12, 2021
Huge, dazzling fireball burns across western sky above Tokyo
January 21, 2021
Fireball turns ‘night into day’ in western Japan, falling to Earth
November 11, 2021
Floating stones from undersea volcano swamp Okinawa coasts
October 28, 2021
Full moon graces mid-autumn festival for 1st time in 8 years
September 22, 2021
Moon watchers in Japan treated to 1st total lunar eclipse in 3 years
May 27, 2021
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
