(meteorobs) Geminids from South Carolina

[meteors at comcast.net]

We had rain early in the week, but the forecast was for the clouds to 
move out late in the afternoon on the 12th and remain clear for the 
following two mornings. With those prospects, I decided to take some 
time off from work for observing.

Wednesday afternoon I was still completely clouded, but all the local 
forecasts and Clear Sky Clock were predicting clear skies after 
midnight. So after a couple hours of sleep, I arrived at my site along 
the beach a little past midnight. Three hours later I still had not 
recorded my first meteor. The clouds never cleared for me, and at 0355 
local time, I packed up and headed home. Turns out clouds formed over 
the water and moved in along the coast overnight, hugging the shore - if 
I had stayed home 25 miles inland, I would have had clear, although 
brighter, skies.

The following day (13/14) proved to be a little colder, but had skies 
that were clear. I again arrived at the beach site and set up as before, 
but this time was rewarded with 3 hours of clear skies. All three hours 
consistently produced 25+ Geminids per hour, which I felt was a nice 
display. No fireballs brighter than -4 were recorded, but numerous 
negative meteors were seen. This was likely my last meteor session of 
2012, but it was a nice one.

I received many more reports and inquiries about this shower than I have 
received probably in over two years. I'm guessing it was the media 
coverage, as I know our local weather forecasters were talking about the 
shower most of the week. Anyway, it was good to see a lot of people out 
there with clear skies!

-- 
Mark Davis, South Carolina, USA
meteors at comcast.net
namn at namnmeteors.org

North American Meteor Network (NAMN)
http://www.namnmeteors.org/