(meteorobs) HALWA at NJAA Dec 14 2008

[meteoreye at comcast.net]

We had just enough clear skies on the morning of the 14th to battle the moon. It was a brutal battle, but I did see a decent number of Geminids. Of course there were no faint ones, I saw no 4th magnitude members despite a LM of +4.7. Quite a few brighter ones, though. Of 39 GEM, 12 were 0 or brighter.

Detailed report can be seen at: 
http://umdb.urania.be/v2/obsview/view.php?id=4352

2008-12-14
Observer:(HALWA)
Location:HIGH BRIDGE, NJ, United States (25186)
Coordinates:40.68N , 74.90W
Remarks:CBE radiant projected from 2009 calendar, and Sirko Molau's shower 130. RA 156, Dec +33, v64. Moon was obviously a pain. LM method was to note faintest visible stars and look them up. Temp -3 C, but almost no wind. NJAA also had all sky camera operating during the shower. Clouds moved in to end session.

shower	GEM 112 +33
shower	HYD 129 +01
shower	MON 103 +08
shower	CBE 156 +33
shower	COM 172 +26
shower	ANT 095 +23
shower	SPO 

F=1.00, LM= +4.70 throughout
Here's the data in ~ 1 hour intervals
UT Time    Teff  GEM HYD MON CBE COM ANT SPO TOT Met/Hr
0310-0410 1.00   10     0        1        1       0        1      0      13   13.0
0410-0504 0.90    12    0         0       0       0        1      0      13   14.3
0504-0616 1.20    17    1        1        0       0        0      4      23   19.2
------------------------------
0310-0616 3.10   39    1        2        1        0        2      4      49   15.8
Totals  49 Meteors (15.8/Hr) Avg Mag  +1.34
GEM 39 (12.6/Hr) Avg Mag +1.05
HYD 1 (0.3/Hr) Mag +1
MON 2 (0.6/Hr) Avg Mag +2.5
CBE 1 (0.3/Hr) Mag +3
COM 0
ANT 2 (0.6/Hr) Mag +2.25
SPO 4 (1.3/Hr) Avg Mag +2.75
Geminid Details. Peak 1 hr count was 17, centered at 0403 UT. Shorter term (6, 15, and 30 minute)peak occurred at 0419 (Sol Long 262.425). Radiant elevation at start 45.2deg, peak 58.2, End 79.1. Moon elevation at start 46.3d, at end 73.5. Moon 96.5% illuminated, mag -12.2.
Mag distribution for shorter periods
0310-0410 (10 GEM) Avg Mag +1.65
0410-0434 (9 GEM) Avg Mag  +1.45
0434-0540 (11 GEM) Avg Mag +0.60
0540-0616 (9 GEM) Avg Mag +1.86
Wayne