The shower peak was at 10:45am, today, Dec. 14. Historically, the Geminids rise faster than they fall, so the prevailing wisdom is that early last night (Friday, Dec. 14 at after midnight) would be the best peak time and this evening early morning (Saturday, Dec. 15 after midnight). Today, the NASA Fluximater was showing a zhr of 40 last night at around 1am and 20 tonight at 11:30pm MST from countryside locations. When I looked outside around midnight last night, it was not clear and did not clear up until this morning. Prospects look better tonight but the NOAA IR map shows another front rapidly moving in from the northwest. Eyeballing the chart, I figure it will be here around midnight and Moonset is at 10pm. So I'm sticking my head out of my den at around 10pm and like Punxsutawney Phil, if I don't see clear weather, I'm crawling back in for another six hours of sleep. - Kurt An S&T article http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/12207486.html Utah astro wiki entry with more links and info http://www.utahastronomy.com/Current_observing_events#Dec._15_3:15am_MDT_Gem... NASA meteor Fluximater http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net
You guys have to read Websites less, and just get out under the stars more. If you only go out when you think statistics are on your side, you're going to lose-out much of the time. This Geminid shower is a prime example. Regardless of when the peak occurs, you can't watch if it's daylight or cloudy. Thursday night was a complete washout weatherwise. Friday night/Saturday morning was pristine for the time I was watching, from about 12:30 to 1:00 am. I was seeing shower members at approximately 3 to 5 minute intervals, about the best Geminid show I've ever seen in terms of numbers. I noticed very few bright fireballs, but bundled-up as I was, my FOV was about half of what it would have been in warmer weather. Most shower members ranged from about 2nd magnitude to the edge of visibility, near 5th. They also seemed faster than Geminids usually are, from my memory, but that may have been an illusion due to smaller meteors leaving shorter trains. I had a terrific Geminid experience right from the suburbs, off-peak and with a crescent moon, to boot. It was also just about the coldest meteor watch I can ever remember doing! On Dec 14, 2007 8:06 PM, Kurt Fisher <fisherka@csolutions.net> wrote:
The shower peak was at 10:45am, today, Dec. 14. Historically, the Geminids rise faster than they fall, so the prevailing wisdom is that early last night (Friday, Dec. 14 at after midnight) would be the best peak time and this evening early morning (Saturday, Dec. 15 after midnight). Today, the NASA Fluximater was showing a zhr of 40 last night at around 1am and 20 tonight at 11:30pm MST from countryside locations. When I looked outside around midnight last night, it was not clear and did not clear up until this morning. Prospects look better tonight but the NOAA IR map shows another front rapidly moving in from the northwest. Eyeballing the chart, I figure it will be here around midnight and Moonset is at 10pm. So I'm sticking my head out of my den at around 10pm and like Punxsutawney Phil, if I don't see clear weather, I'm crawling back in for another six hours of sleep.
participants (2)
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Chuck Hards -
Kurt Fisher