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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Geminid Meteor Shower - 2006

I have never been a great observer of the Geminids, (Probably because it happens in the very cold pre-winter air), but this year the temps around Chicago will be tolerable and I will trek up to my garage roof to catch these pieces of space debris burning up in our atmosphere.

The Geminids should produce a fine display of 1-2 meteors every minute for North American observers, weather permitting. Brief bursts of activity could produce even higher rates. The nights and mornings surrounding the peak activity should prove rewarding, too.

The peak this year is on the 13/14 of December, with a 1/4 Moon. This should be ok, but no Moon would be better for the fainter ones. Start your observing session about 10:00 pm - the show will last till dawn. (It's always better to wait until after midnight, this is when the Earth faces open space and head on into the debris field.) Just look to the east to catch the meteors, but they can occur anywhere in the sky.

Space.com says:

"Many Geminids appear yellowish in hue. Some even seem to form jagged or divided paths.

At 2 grams per cubic centimeter on average, Geminid meteoroids are several times denser than the cometary dust flakes that supply most meteor showers, so they burn up less quickly. Add this to the relatively slow speed with which Geminids typically encounter Earth 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second), or roughly half the speed of a Leonid meteor and you have the recipe for meteors that linger a bit longer in view than most".

If you are lucky and in a quiet place, you can actually hear the meteors "crackle" if large and close enough. I have heard a handful on rare occasions, and usually they have been yellow-green in color. Maybe you can catch a few making noise on the way down.

Good luck!... ;D

[atomant]

Mother Nature has been too kind..

I have just had my first experience with observing the Geminids.
Wow! I was amazed to see 5 shooting stars within an hour between 1-2am.
To me, the shower seemed brighter than the Leonids a few years back.
I also pulled out the 10" dob for a quick view of faves:
M42, M34, M44, M41 and, of course, Saturn.

Time for nap....

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I was not so fortunate.

I spent about three hours on my garage roof seeking Geminds, but only saw two little ones. How dissapointing for me!

I did take the opportunity to practice taking skyshots with my new Canon Powershot S3 Digial camera. I'll post the results in a different board, but I like what it can do.

Perhaps I was too busy fiddling around with the camera, that I missed the meteors.

[stargazer]

Hey Joe and Gang

Sorry to hear you didnt see much Meteor activity. Not only did I have a great view here and saw plenty but also go to see some of the Northern Ligts. When Bill got home he said they were going on though faint still got to see them. No pics but close to another cert. one more hour for the next 6 hour meteor observing cert.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Becks,

I attempted to catch some aurorae here in light polluted Chicago, but no dice. Not even any Geminid stragglers this morning.

I did take the time to photograph Orion with my new camera, (those pics in a different post), but those aurorae are passing right over my head if you can see them in Barry Illinois.

When you get your cert, send it to me and I'll put it up here on the forum.

[stargazer]

Joe they were nice. I am sorry you didnt get to see them. since my last cert you posted I think I have gotten about 7 more and there is one coming from the Night Sky Network in Jan. Im a Superstar for 2006. Im one of many people getting it. I also have about 4 cert with my name on Nasa missions. I need about 10 frames to hang them all plus a big wall for all of it.