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Greetings,
Dec. 13th - Dec. 14th. (Tuesday night through early Wednesday morning) tonight:
Between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am EST - tonight, the Geminid Meteor Showers should be most visible. Since these meteors 'shoot' all over the expanse of the sky, there is no need to locate the constellation Gemini for whom the meteor shower is named.
Also, as a reminder, ISS will be visiting the VIs at 6:39pm this evening - (details are listed under "ISS Sightings thread)
Enjoy!
Swan
Posted : December 13, 2011 11:36 am
Went out to Peterborg with the lady. Saw tons of them throughout the night.
Great stuff 🙂
Thanks for the heads up!
Posted : December 14, 2011 6:33 pm
Topic starter
Went out to Peterborg with the lady. Saw tons of them throughout the night.
Great stuff 🙂Thanks for the heads up!
Greetings David,
I am pleased you both got to enjoy the meteor shower last night! Forty to 50 Geminids per hour were predicted. An interesting note about the Geminid Meteors - each year the Earth passes through an orbital tail of debris; but the source of this phenomenon is not from a comet: It is from a rocky Near Earth Asteroid called 3200 Phaethon .Here's the glitch....Comets have tails and Asteroids do not. So, the mystery of this character still baffles even NASA. What exactly produces the asteroid's tail of orbital rocky/ dusty pieces? Many hypotheses abound! 🙂 In addition, the streaks you viewed were actually pieces of asteroid debris hitting the Earth's atmosphere as Earth passed through the orbital litter left from Phaethon. And the pieces can put on quite a light show, even fireballs.
The next meteor shower is to occur on Jan. 3, 2012 It's name is Quadrantids
Cheers,
Swan
Posted : December 14, 2011 7:25 pm
i saw a few earlier in the evening. very pretty
Posted : December 15, 2011 10:05 am
I'm so ticked off that I missed it! I saw your thread, took note of it and was all set to park myself on the porch for a look-see but the dreaded 'flu bug I've been battling for the last several days won out and I ended up falling asleep for the duration. Maybe next time!
Posted : December 15, 2011 12:00 pm
Topic starter
I'm so ticked off that I missed it! I saw your thread, took note of it and was all set to park myself on the porch for a look-see but the dreaded 'flu bug I've been battling for the last several days won out and I ended up falling asleep for the duration. Maybe next time!
So sorry , OldTart. I hope you're feeling better. You may have another promising meteor shower event with Quadrantids, scheduled for Tuesday - Jan 3, to Jan. 4, 2012 (less than 3 weeks away). The parent for this chap is a minor planet, Comet 2003 EH1 - also called Comet C/1490 Y1 - named 500 yrs. ago by the Chinese.
Approximately a dozen Meteor Shower events will occur throughout 2012; of those, about six will be promising in terms of good viewing. Less moonlight predicted this coming year during the comet visits offers less light pollution and greater visibility.
Take care and I hope you continue to feel better.,
Swan
Posted : December 15, 2011 1:27 pm
darn missed it! will be looking for the next thanks!
Posted : December 17, 2011 1:24 pm
Topic starter
darn missed it! will be looking for the next thanks!
Greetings,
Sorry you missed Geminid. Quadrantids may be spectacular too. Although the Quadrantid Meteor Shower spans from Jan.1st through Jan.10th, the peak will occur from Jan. 3rd-4th - from about 11 PM to 4:30 AM. The meteors will radiate from the North/ Northeast sky (from the Constellation 'Bootes') at approximately 60 to 120 meteors/ hr., and are known to streak across half the sky. They are bluish and bright. The best viewing may occur from looking somewhat toward the horizon, rather than straight up ...but the streaks should easily grasp your eyesight, regardless.
I'll post a Quadrantids Meteor Shower reminder a day or two beforehand.
Thank you all!
Swan
Posted : December 17, 2011 4:05 pm
