(meteorobs) Backyard Geminids from southern Maryland

[Richard Taibi]

Because of my work schedule and the full moon, I decided to watch the 
Geminid max behind my house in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.  I 
used my house as a moon shield and looked toward the radiant.  Sharing the 
open sky were some leafless oaks.  Needless to say, conditions were far from 
ideal and I won't expect that the observation was worthy of any 
organization's record keeping.  However, it was nice not to have to drive 
40-70 miles roundtrip to a better site.

I saw 12 Geminids in the hour and twenty minutes observation period, 
7:40-9:00 UT on 12/14/2005.  Limiting magnitude was +4 and there were no 
clouds, but it was COLD: +18 F.  I did not see any fireballs, meteors of -3 
magnitude or brighter.  But, four Geminids were minus magnitude.  Because of 
the novel observing site and not needing to commute, I really enjoyed this 
mid week session.

Best wishes,  Rich