Geminid Meteor Shower- December13-15th 2012/ 40th Anniversary of Apollo 17, Dec.14.

[Suzy]

:stargaze:
The Geminids are well known for putting on a good show & with new moon period coinciding, we can enjoy darker skies to enjoy this event. I've started to spot the odd one already so I think we may be in for a good treat. Last year my daughter was lucky enough to catch a big bright fireball! I picked the worst moment in my life to be errrr let's just say, "unavailable".:rolleyes: Not much I could do amidst the screams I was hearing outside..:rolleyes: Touchy subject to this day....:rolleyes:

Make it an event not to miss- grab a picnic rug, some snacks and a nice glass of wine or two, :cheers: some music and enjoy! No binoculars needed- just your naked eye. The peak is expected on Dec. 14th between 2-3am, but anywhere between the 13-15th will be fine to catch them on show. The meteors will emerge from the constellation Gemini, looking north if you're in the southern hemisphere or looking east if you're in the northern hemisphere. It's an easy patch of sky to find as it will be below the famous Orion the hunter constellation- look for a very obvious big bright deep orange star called Betelgeuse and there you have the constellation Orion! In fact, you don't even have to wait for the constellation to rise at all, just look north and enjoy! For more info, click on the link supplied and if you go to page2 & click on another link titled "observing Geminids", there's a map to help you spot it (keep scrolling to get to southern hemisphere map). For a bit of fun if you want to find the radiant (the spot where the meteors emerge from), trace them back as they emerge and voila!

Note: the further south you are the further north the radiant will be, so maybe a few less meteors seen.

http://www.itwire.com/science-news/space/57797-geminids-meteor-shower-ready-to-pop-december-13-15-2012/57797-geminids-meteor-shower-ready-to-pop-december-13-15-2012?limitstart=0


The December 14th peak date of the Geminids also coincides with a special anniversary........

December 14th 2012, marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 17.
Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon. Compared to previous Apollo missions, Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since December 14, 1972.

Pictured here is lunar module pilot, Harrison Schmidt- the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface. In the background is our delicate, beautiful blue planet around 370,000km away.

128057

Here is a commemorative video of the Apollo Mission, "Remembering Apollo". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qSznKLIWTRU)

[astroron]

Something o look forward too, and also remember the last time man set foot on another world besides our own
Cheers:thumbsup:

[iceman]

Thanks Suzy!

Some good info on the Geminids here too:
http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/geminid-meteor-shower-14-15-december.html

[gaa_ian]

Good on you Suzy !
I will be watching out for this event along with a bunch of other stargazers here in Nhulunbuy. And to top it off there is a potential NEW meteor shower (http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/11dec_newshower/) coinciding with the Geminids.

[Sarge]

No hope in Melboune - clouds and rain!
:mad2::mad2::mad2:
Wed 12/12/2012 (http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/kings-park/15783/daily-weather-forecast/15783?day=1) 34°19° 0 mm Sunny 34°19°
Thu 13/12/2012 (http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/kings-park/15783/daily-weather-forecast/15783?day=2) 34°19° 1 mm Increasing clouds 34°19°
Fri 14/12/2012 (http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/kings-park/15783/daily-weather-forecast/15783?day=3) 27°19° 12 mm Periods of rain 34°19°
Sat 15/12/2012 (http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/kings-park/15783/daily-weather-forecast/15783?day=4) 26°14° 17 mm A thunderstorm in spots 34°19°
Sun 16/12/2012 (http://www.accuweather.com/en/au/kings-park/15783/daily-weather-forecast/15783?day=5) 20°9° 0 mm Cooler 34°19°

Wishing for clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[Liz]

have watched this shower many times, and plan to again for the next 2 mornings .... clear skies please :)

[tomtom]

Beautifully clear skies here (Eastern Melbourne Suburbs) Sarge.
Maybe you should head out here?
Hope it keeps up.

Thinking of heading to Mt Donna Buang to get away from the light pollution and go up on the lookout tower.

EDIT: Woops, was gonna head out tonight lol
Maybe I should still, given that tomorrow may be cloudy :S

[naskies]

Thanks Suzy! I'm looking forward to it :)

[Tamtarn]

Last night for some reason I woke up at 4am so I dashed out of bed for a quick look and watched for just over half an hour, I managed to catch four. The best of them was the first which was the largest. It flashed towards the west, a beautiful bright golden colour.

Went back to bed satisfied with my sighting. :)

The forecast for tonight is cloudy so I am pleased I made the effort the morning!

Barb

[naskies]

NASA's Meteor Shower Flux Estimator is a handy tool for predicting the expected rate of meteors per hour:

http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html

[tomtom]

BAH!

That's annoying.
I'm still optimistic, but not too much.
Damn shame if it's cloudy, looking at the BOM satellite images, it may be hard to escape too, if it doesn't clear up somehow.

Just found this last night as well
http://earthsky.org/space/new-meteor-shower-might-coincide-with-2012-geminids

[Suzy]

Mike, thankyou- that was a very informative link. :thumbsup:

It seems we may be in for an added treat. :question:
http://earthsky.org/space/new-meteor-shower-might-coincide-with-2012-geminids

My daughter, Chrissy had a nightmare about this event last night. She dreamed that that Aliens emerged from the shower and took her away. :rolleyes::lol: So many people having an end of the world party on the 21st must be eating at at her subconscious & was probably more than the poor thing could handle. :rofl:
Her best friend is coming over and we are all watching them together. :D

Cloudy with patches in Brisbane at the moment, but I remain hopeful.

[Suzy]

It seems the debris from the Geminid meteor shower could be from a new kind of object called a "rock comet" which they seem to have traced it back to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPPGF3KrMQ&feature=share

[tomtom]

Lol I just posted the same link Suzy :lol:

If we do get clear skies, this is going to be one amazing night.

[JB80]

It was too cold for me last night to have a look and tonight is looking like snow and rain.

[REVEREND]

Suzy.As I said in my introduction...I am new at this.

Are the times for SA and day light saving?

Cheers Reverend.

[tomtom]

Yep, looking pretty dismal here too :'(
This is really sad.

[Shark Bait]

For Brisbane folk, we will be observing from Midnight through to approx 3am EST. We don't have DST in Queensland. You will have to convert these times to your local time zone. We are +10 hrs GMT.

Look towards the N-N/E. The Geminids radiant will be near the star Castor.

[Suzy]

Ray, I hope this is helpful.

http://www.spacedex.com/geminids/locations/geminid-australia-adelaide.php


I went out around 9pm for half an hour, nothing yet. BUT! I did see two meteors within 10 mins (to the east) from the other shower going on. Wow, I have to have eyes in the back of my head. :lol:
Getting all serious now... the tarp to lay on and pillows are getting taken out soon. And a big bowl of popcorn and wine and my green alien i-pod buddy playing xmas tunes. :D Ooooh it's such a beautiful night out there. I'm so sorry for the people that are clouded out :(

[doppler]

All right I was about to go to bed but I guess I can go out and have look for a while. Its a warm night in Mackay and clear for the moment. I have a day of work tomorow so lets see what happens.

[Chris85]

My pregnant partner and i just shared our first meteor shower together :-D She spotted the first, then the next two we both shouted out as they zoomed across the sky. Only got a half hour in before the clouds spoiled it, but it does definitely make you feel all warm and fussy inside sharing these moments :-)
Chris

Forgot to add, thanks for the thread Suzy! Would've missed it otherwise

[Shark Bait]

Just saw three teasers in the space of two minutes and then a decent lull. Hoping for some nice bright ones.

[von Tom]

Saw 5 in about 30min. Some were to the south near the Southern Cross.

[tomtom]

Year ruined.

[Suzy]

Woohooooo! Had a great night with the Geminid's meteor shower! :D

Between 10pm-2am nabbed 32, plus 2 rogue meteors, plus 5 of the other meteor shower to the east (would have been more I'm sure if I kept looking as the Geminids kept us pretty busy), so total count with 3 of them is: 39 for the night. This has been the best meteor shower I've seen so far, wow! Saw two incredibly bright ones too with long tails that I'll never forget (you could see the head and the tail!). The heads on those was as bright as Sirius if I'm not mistaken. And a third one (tho not as bright) even left a smoke trail and then fizzled out *eyepop*. When we started to pack up at 2am, the clouds came in so how's that for perfect timing! LOL. The last hour between 1 and 2 was dismal, only giving 2 with a wait of 40 mins before the next. But between 12.30 & 1am, nabbed 10 alone, so that must've have been the peak time for me. It's now 2.30am, time for some sleep! zzzzzz...

[naskies]

It's been a spectacular display here at a dark sky site, just west of Warwick. Cloud free, easily into the hundreds of meteors. Someone else here counted over 30 meteors in the southern half of the sky over about 30 mins... and this was just in the lead up to the peak. During the peak, I counted up to 5 meteors at a time in rapid succession. Mostly green ones, with the occasional red streaking fireballs. What a show! :)

[CJ]

Guess what time I got up to watch them! Yep, 1am. Hopefully that explains my dissapointment. I'll try again tonight but a bit earlier.

[gaa_ian]

So glad to hear you got a good display Suzy !
I pretty much picked up where you left off at 2am ;)
Our skies are clear as a bell up here in Gove NT ATM, with the only sign of weather being some very distant over the northern horizon lightning (nice backdrop !)
I began my count of geminids as soon as I arrived at our northern beach viewing site (nothing but ocean for 100 nautical miles north :thumbsup:
It only took a few minutes to start seeing some geminids. Obvious by their slower and generally yellowish colour. This contrasted starkly with what was obviously another shower above the Geminids, with these meteors seemingly twice as fast and bright white. A little investigation later this morning confirmed my suspision that they were Alpha Hydrids.
There were of course sporadic’s throughout the display, with many of these leaving breif "trains" (smoke trails)
I was joined by two other members of Gove Astronomers Peter & Nicole as the morning progressed. There seemed to be a peak of activity around 4am, with the observations and count continuing until first light started to win out at 5am. The final count was 250+ METEOR'S :eyepop: 25 of which were sporadic’s (or unidentified showers) 25 were clearly Alpha Hydrids, leaving an amazing 200 Geminids in a little less than 3 hours.
This is easily the best show I have seen since the Leonids of 2001.

[JetDragon]

Got up for a quick look around 2.00am and saw 7 in about 15 mins - pretty good return I thought:thumbsup:

How quickly do the Geminids die down - i.e. is there any expectation of a decent show tonight?

thanks

Dave

[venus]

I had a look just before midnight was watching star trek, didn't spot any from here in Charlestown probably too early will try a bit later tonight if I can wake up:)

[Karls48]

Geminid meteors plot captured by my fixed GStar camera on 12 and 13 Dec.

[mithrandir]

Saw a few from 03:30 Sydney time. One track went close to the SCP. How do you stack images to preserve the meteor tracks?

[Baddad]

Hi Suzy and everyone,:)

Wow! Is the word that sums it up.:eyepop:

Grandson David, 10yrs, and I were out for 2 hrs, 10-12:00. David has been able to name all the Planets in order since he was 8.

The meteor started slowly. No sighting until 10:30. We became disgruntled. Then the first zoomed on. Followed by more. 31 in total in an hour and a half.

David was so excited he ran in to get Ma. Ma was never interested, but when she saw the numbers coming up she bedded down on the rug and assisted in the count.:)

A few meteors displayed trains and I half expected to hear crackling.
David is hooked.;)

Maybe have another go tonight.:)

Cheers:)

[gaa_ian]

Another impressive Geminids display at our Gove Astronomers Xmas Party and observing night. The Geminids stared early rising up from the horizon before the radiant had risen and continued to impress until 11pm. Did not do a count last night but there were easily 50 plus. Some covered 1/2 the sky and left smoking trains behind. Saw at least a dozen bright "Piscids" from the new comet Wirtanen Shower. An awesome night all in all & great for some of the new to astronomy folk who joined us !

[Liz]

Wonderful stuff Marty ... wonderful when others are wowed by the experience too. :thumbsup:

Sounds great too Ian with lots seen, including quite a number from the 'piscid' shower. :thumbsup:

It has been a wonderful shower over quite a few days, allowing many to observe and enjoy. I saw quite a few in the wee hours of Thursday and Friday mornings .... too tired today :sadeyes:

[Kunama]

Clouds to the North, clouds to the East ................

The only decent one I saw was not even a Geminid ........ about 10.30pm Thursday night a fireball leaving a long smoking tail coming from south fizzled out directly above Jindabyne ...........
maybe next year ............... raining in Jindabyne since I installed the new counterweights on the Gaunt mount.

[axle01]

I sat down the beach for 3 hours and saw at least 20 but for some reason i only got 2, i had the d3s with the fisheye set at f2.8 and 1000 iso with s shutter release at 30 seconds and continually shot for 3 hours and i know i got the 20 meteors in the shots but after looking at everyone on the computer only 2 were visible.

http://i50.tinypic.com/348n9j6.jpg

[Suzy]

:eyepop::eyepop::eyepop:

And there I was being excited at getting 39! :lol:
Nice report there Ian. :thumbsup:

Thank you to all those who gave their reports. :thumbsup:





That's a lovely story, Chris, and something you will always cherish and remember now. :)

Marty, seems like you have a budding astronomer grandson! :D As a fellow Brisbane-ite, it was good to hear your tally of getting so many! You caught nearly the same amount as me in half the time. :lol: I'm guessing it's because I don't have a low horizon to the north- i.e. I have a big garage shed blocking my view grrrr.

[MortonH]

Assume you meant warm and fuzzy ;)

She'll probably get warmer and fussier as the pregnancy progresses. My wife did!!! :lol:

[MortonH]

My Geminid count was ONE. Having stayed up really late the previous two nights observing Jupiter and trying out my new eyepieces. I was just too tired to do it again. Saw one bright one from my apartment balcony when the radiant was still too low for me to see. But I've seen this shower many times from the UK so I don't mind :D

[doppler]

Interesting that some locations saw a lot and some saw very few. I am in Mackay. On Thursday night 12 midnight till 1 am I saw only 1 (clouds came over after that), Friday 10 till 11 pm saw only 1 again. Saturday had another look 11.30 till 12.30 saw only 1 again. I hope I have not been spoiled by the leoinds shower of 2002 (lost count on that one one every second at times and hundreds per hour)

[von Tom]

I did a 5 hour timelapse and caught a few - view here: :)
http://youtu.be/Azr_d6oSiOs

Tom

[gaa_ian]

Great Video Tom !
This shower got a few new people hooked into the Astronomy habit up here in Gove :D

[naskies]

Great video, Tom!

[Suzy]

Enjoyed your video Tom, thank you.


Take a look at this pic from Paranal!
http://www.astrosurf.com/sguisard/Pagim/Paranal-Geminids.html

[darksky]

What colour, speed, tail length, radiant position did these have? Just to confirm my own sighting...