(meteorobs) Geminids 12/13 Dec Iowa

pmartsching at mchsi.com pmartsching at mchsi.com
Thu Dec 13 13:23:17 EST 2012


Geminids 12/13 December (Wed night/Thu morning):

The sky wasn't as clear as I would have liked (jet contrail cirrus), but it was a good show for the night before the peak.  The apparent clumpiness was very evident.  I once saw four Geminids in 6 seconds: 0, +1, -2 and +1. The brightest Geminid was -5 and traveled less than 5 degrees going North.  Only one brief Geminid train from a -4 meteor.  The temperature wasn't bad, but I didn't like the wind.  For a while a Great-horned Owl sat on top of a tall utility pole in my FOV and called occasionally.  I was surprised it stayed up there so long in the wind.  It is nice to be able to do meteor observing without glasses!

Again no apparent Monocerotids.  I seem to see far fewer of these than anybody else does.  

McFarland Park 4 miles NE of Ames, Story Co, Iowa, USA

04:45-05:45 UT 37 deg F; dew pt 16 deg F; wind South 12 mph; "fair"; average LM 5.7; facing East 55 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
ANT: none
DLM: none
HYD: none
GEM: twenty-three: 0(2); +1(5); +2(7); +3(7); +4(2)
Sporadics: three: +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: twenty-six

05:45-06:45 UT 37 deg F; dew pt 16 deg F; wind S 14 mph; "fair"; average LM 5.5; facing East 55 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
ANT: one: -2
DLM: one: +3
HYD: one: +3
GEM: twenty-four: -5; -4; -2; -1; 0(2); +1(7); +2(3); +3(7); +4
Sporadics: three: +3(2); +4
Total meteors: thirty

07:00-08:00 UT 36 deg F; dew pt 16 deg F; wind S 14 mph; "fair"; average LM 5.6; facing East 55 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
ANT: one: -3
DLM: none
HYD: two: +3(2)
GEM: thirty-eight: -2(3); -1(3); 0(4); +1(6); +2(7); +3(12); +4(3)
Sporadics: six: +2(3); +3(3)
Total meteors: forty-seven

08:00-09:00 UT 34 deg F; dew pt 16 deg F; wind S 9 mph; "fair"; average LM 5.4; facing East 55 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
ANT: none
DLM: three: +1; +3; +4
HYD: one: +3
GEM: thirty-four: -4; -2(2); -1(5); 0(5); +1(4); +2(8); +3(8); +4
Sporadics: three: +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: forty-one

09:00-09:14 UT 34 deg F; dew pt 15 deg F; wind S 13 mph; "fair"; LM 5.4; facing E 55 deg; teff 0.25 hr.
HYD: one: +3
GEM: ten: -3; 0; +1(2); +2(2); +3(3); +4
Total meteors: eleven (15 minutes)

I was tired and chilly and there seemed no prospect of sky conditions improving so I went home. I'm hoping for good sky tonight.  The Ames Clear Sky Clock doesn't look too great, but the NOAA local weather forecast says "mostly clear".





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