[meteorite-list] Geminid Meteor Shower

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:11:09 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <20061214221109.36808.qmail_at_web51706.mail.yahoo.com>

Forward of some successful Geminid Meteor Shower
observations:

------------ Forward Messages ------------

Geminids 12-14-06 -Greenbelt, MD
George Gliba gliba at milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov
Thu Dec 14 10:54:25 EST 2006

Geminid Maximum - Dec. 13/14, 2006
Greenbelt, Maryland - 390016N 0765233W

Unexpectedly it cleared up; so I went out locally to
observe the maximum of the Geminids. Conditions were
about the same as two nights ago, but the rates were
much better. With a bit of intermittent ground fog,
the average limiting magnitude was still about 5.0 for
the two hour watch. I saw 50 GEMs between 2:45 and
4:45 UT. The best meteor was a nice yellow-green -1
magnitude
Geminid seen at 4:44 UT. The prettiest meteor was a
blue-green 0 magnitude GEM seen at 3:58 UT.
The average Geminid was a bright 1.5 magnitude, but
there were no fireballs seen.
Below is a short breakdown of the meteors seen.


Time (UT) LM %Obst. XOR MON GEM HYD SPO Total FOV
Comments
02:45-03:45 5.0 0% 3 0 25 0 5 33 5.4+38 some fog
03:45-04:45 5.0 0% 1 2 25 0 4 32 7.1+32 some fog


Magnitude Distributions (2:45-4:45 UT) LM=5.0 some fog

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Ave. Total
XOR 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 2.5 4
MON 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2.5 2
GEM 1 9 17 12 8 3 0 1.5 50
HYD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N/A 0
SPO 0 1 1 0 3 4 0 2.9 9


Clear Skies,
GWG

    * Previous message: Obs: 12/13 December 2006
    * Next message: Geminids Obs near peak (night of
Dec 13-14) from Hawaii.

-----------------------

Geminids Obs near peak (night of Dec 13-14) from
Hawaii
Michael Linnolt mlinnolt at alum.mit.edu
Thu Dec 14 16:22:46 EST 2006


We had some typical trade wind weather conditions last
night for the Geminids peak here in Hawaii. Some
passing clouds interfered somewhat, but overall I had
a pretty good show observing from my backyard in the
suburbs of Honolulu.

Limiting magnitude was a good 5.5-5.6 in moderate
light pollution, due to lack of moonlight and
generally transparent skies. I guess I was in about
the ideal location this year, as the peak occured
around midnight, just before moonrise!

Activity was quite reasonable, with a total of 33 GEM
seen in an hour. Pretty well distributed in brightness
too, with quite a few bright ones to make for an
exciting session. A mag -4 near-fireball was the most
impressive one. It appeared that the activity was
higher between 0930-10UT, an hour before the predicted
1045UT peak, than 10-1030UT however.

REPORT FOLLOWS:
===============
OBS: Mike Linnolt (LINMI)
DATE: Dec 14, 2006
TIME: 0930 - 1032 UT
LOC: Honolulu, Hawaii (21? 16' N, 157? 48' W)
ELEV: 230 feet
Conditions: Partly Cloudy. Temp 70F.
METHOD: Paper


Observing Periods Summary:
==========================

# Period(UT) FOV Teff F LM GEM SPO
- ---------- --- ---- - --- --- ---
1 0930-1001 04h+10 0.50 1.3 5.5 19 2
1 1001-1032 05h+10 0.50 1.2 5.6 14 4

Periods Detail:
===============

Period #1:
----------
Mag -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6
------------------------------------------
GEM: 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 4 4 3 4 0 = 19
SPO: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 = 2

DEAD TIME: 1 min

Period #2:
----------
Mag -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6
------------------------------------------
GEM: 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 2 2 4 0 = 14
SPO: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 = 4

DEAD TIME: 1 min

END OF REPORT
Received on Thu 14 Dec 2006 05:11:09 PM PST