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Geminid Meteor Shower 2009

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martinastro
Martin Mc Kenna
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« on: December 04, 2009, 04:21:04 pm »

Thought I would start a thread for this. The nights of Dec 13/14th and 14/15th look very good indeed with high rates and a dark moonless sky, activity should be rewarding on the nights before and after those dates with a chance of fireballs. Time to share your plans, early sighting/images and add useful links to this thread. I have a Christmas dinner to attend on the 12/13th but hope to be watching the morning of the 13th onwards, clear skies permitting. Good luck all.  Smiley



The ZHR is 140 meteors per hours, this rarely happens in reality, but with no moon, and a fairly high radiant during the early morning hours, conditions should be ripe for a decent count.
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Tyler
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« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2009, 05:22:02 pm »

This is the Redemption of the Leonids for me! LOL... just hoping for clear skies.
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jjb
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« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2009, 10:08:28 pm »

Lets hope for clear skies Martin and remember not to eat too much turkey!
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Roman White
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« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2009, 04:55:59 pm »

Sounds good if ZHR will be above 100.  Smiley

I am much afraid to say something about my possibilities to sucessfully observe it, but ATM the weather forecast tells about possibly clear weather with -5...-10C. hmm...  Undecided
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martinastro
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« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2009, 04:37:17 pm »

A week on Monday, IYA2009's last major shower, the Geminids, is favoured with a moonless maximum, expected on December 14 around 05h UT. New Moon is on December 16. The Geminid radiant, near Castor in Gemini, rises around sunset and reaches a usefully-observable elevation for meteor watchers by about 20h UT from Britain. After this, it remains well-placed for the rest of the night, culminating around 02h.

Highest Zenithal Hourly Rates (ZHRs) should be ~120 judging by recent returns, and observed rates from the UK on December 13-14 under clear, very dark skies could be a meteor a minute or more throughout the post-midnight hours, if its activity is of this strength again. This is because Geminid rates often remain close to their maximum levels for 6 to 10 hours to either side of their best. Activity is normally good, if lower, for a night or two before, and sometimes a night after, the maximum in an average year as well. Thus pleasing shower rates may be glimpsed then, even if clouds intervene on the peak night.

Geminids are medium speed and often bright meteors, though few leave glowing persistent trains after them. Much lower Geminid rates may be seen away from the maximum in any moonless skies available between roughly December 7 to 17. For more information, and a Geminid radiant chart, see: http://www.popastro.com/sections/meteor/meteor-dec2009.htm .

Good luck, and clear skies!

Alastair McBeath,
Meteor Director, Society for Popular Astronomy.
Meteor homepage: http://www.popastro.com/sections/meteor.htm
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Big Dipper
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« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2009, 05:48:36 pm »

This is the Redemption of the Leonids for me! LOL... just hoping for clear skies.

My thoughts entirely Tyler!
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Andy
martinastro
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« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2009, 11:15:58 pm »

From Armagh Observatory...

This year's annual Geminid meteor shower is active during the period December 7 - 17, with the peak of activity occurring during the night of December 13th/14th. The Geminid shower is currently one of the best of the major annual meteor displays, usually having a high number of relatively bright, medium-speed (130,000 km per hour) shooting stars.

Under ideal conditions from a dark observing site, it is expected that there will be up to 120 meteors visible per hour for a few hours around the time of the peak. The peak occurs around new Moon this year. The Geminid radiant will be moderately high in the east in the late evening on 14th. Geminids travel at average meteor speeds, are moderately bright, yellowish with some leaving glowing trails (persistent trains) behind. The Geminid shower is notable also for providing occasional exceptionally bright meteors, called 'fireballs'.

Most meteors originate from comets, but in 1983, a potentially hazardous asteroid, (3200) Phaethon, was discovered by Simon Green and John Davies in data collected by NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite. Orbital computations revealed that this minor planet was following the same orbit as the Geminids, and was probably the parent body of these meteors and the first meteoroid stream to be found to come from an asteroid. The reason for this is still unclear, perhaps a collision with another asteroid in the remote past caused Phaethon to release a meteoroid stream. Currently, Phaethon can approach the Earth to within two million miles.

The Geminids were discovered in the 1862 by Robert Greg of Manchester and by the 1890s the number of bright meteors had increased dramatically by a factor of two. During the 1980s, hourly rates were noted to vary between about 60 and 110, while current rates range from 80 to 110. The reason for the increase in numbers is because the gravity fields of Jupiter and the Earth are changing the orbit of the meteoroid stream, pulling it from well inside the Earth's orbit to well outside. Radar observations have shown that the shower can be active as early as the end of November and as late as the end of December.

Other celestial bodies to look for while meteor watching in mid-December are the planets Jupiter (low in the southwest during the early evening), Mars (low in the east around midnight) and Saturn (moderately high in the southeast about 6.00 a.m.) The Orion nebula, under the three stars of Orion's belt and an active star-forming region approximately 1300 light years away, remains above the horizon throughout the night. The International Space Station will make a pass on December 14th from about 6.51 to 6.57 a.m. It will appear as a bright star-like object crossing moderately high from the southwest to the east.

For meteor observing, it is advisable to find a dark site, away from city lights and wrap up well in several layers of warm clothing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: John McFarland at the Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG. Tel.: 028-3752-2928; FAX: 028-3752-7174; jmfarm.ac.uk.
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« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2009, 02:35:29 am »

I saw a couple of bright meteors last night (early morning of Dec 7) that were probable Geminids.
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martinastro
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« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2009, 03:28:38 pm »

That's the first Geminid sightings this year Brian!.

Haven't seen any yet myself but will be putting in some decent hours over the weekend.
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« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2009, 11:25:44 pm »

The forecasts that I've seen for this coming weekend's peak seem relatively promising at the moment (at least for my location). I'm thinking of looking out my semi fisheye lens and trying it out with one of my various lenses to see what gives the best result without too much vignetting. Then I can leave it to its own devices with my remote timer & static tripod (as I did in my 'Winter Parade' thread) while I sit back and (hopefully) enjoy the view.

Looking forward to it!  Smiley
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Andy
martinastro
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« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2009, 03:22:09 pm »

The latest on the 2009 Geminids from Spaceweather.com

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/08dec_geminids.htm

Listen to the Meteor radar

http://spaceweatherradio.com/
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Tyler
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« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2009, 06:37:17 pm »

Just had a Blizzard and temps are well below zero Fahrenheit. Sunday night looks like some clouds and more snow, but Saturday night and Monday night are forecast to be clear so we will see. 
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martinastro
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« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2009, 12:02:18 am »

I wish you the very best of luck Tyler and hope you get those clear skies.

Latest RTE forecast is going for a severe frost on Sat and Sun night so it looks like we might see the show here...but it will be tough in these conditions for such long hours!!, it will be like back in the good old days doing an all nighter and so cold only your will power can keep you out. Let's hope it's worth it  Smiley...the Geminids always are.
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« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2009, 02:03:54 pm »

As last night here was a beautiful clear night I did a short watch from 23:05-23:30UT and seen 4 geminids.  Had the camera set up and took around twenty 15sec exposures at one minute intervals but didnt catch any meteors. I would probably need 30sec exposures to stand a better chance but this is not available on my camera.  Very cold out and the forecast looks promising so fingers crossed!
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martinastro
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« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2009, 04:21:23 pm »

Last night was quite stunning, I ended up seeing 6 Geminids by accident from just causal glances at the sky. Two of them appeared at the same time so the activity is looking good already. Set-up the scope at 05.00 to search for comet Siding Spring then out of nowhere thick fog moved in and ended the session. It's still here now as I write this.

Great to see such dedication Paul, I used to have a camera that only did 15 sec exposures, so I just took image after image and managed to catch some good meteors, don't let the short exposure put you off, all it takes is for that one bright fireball to pass through the field and you will have a stunning image  Smiley. Good luck on the nights ahead.
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