(meteorobs) Dec 14/15, 2015 Post-max Geminid obs from Deltona, Florida - AMAZING!!!!!

[Paul Jones]

Greetings again all,
          I journeyed down to my dear forids Dave and Brenda
branchett's home in Deltona, Florida last night to escape the threat of
cloudy skies once again in the St. Augustine area.  We had already lost the
maximum night here to the clouds the night before, so I was determined not
to miss the chance to see the well-known Geminid "mass-sorting" phenomenon
(also called photographic maximum in the old days) as well.
     As it turned out, Brenda and I had four plus hours of mostly clear
skies in her backyard about 75 - 80 miles southwest of St. Augustine) and
there we witnessed one truly amazing display of meteor activity from the
GEMs!!
     It wasn't the quantity of meteors, as the activity had dropped quite a
bit in rates, it was the amazing brightness of many of the meteors that we
saw that made it so very memorable!
     I managed to see four Geminid fireballs all told during the 4 hour
watch, that was the best I had done in one night during a major shower
since the 1998 Leonids!  And there were several other GEMs that were almost
fireballs as well. We had a fabulous -6 GEM fireball burst just off the
eastern horizon, two - 5 fireballs that lit up the cirrus haze in the
southwestern sky and a -4 GEM fireball shot due west over the house.
     Just as amazing as the brightness of many of the GEMs was the intense
and varied colors we were seeing in them.  We had blue, yellow, orange, red
and turquoise tones in virtually every bright GEM we saw.  Incredible!

Here's my data from the amazing session:

Dec., 14/15 2015 Observer: Paul Jones, Location: Deltona, Florida (75 - 80
miles south/ southwest of St. Augustine, Florida)

915 - 1015 p.m. EST (0215-0315 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 4.5, Sky
Condition: 25% obstruction due to cirrus haze interference), Facing: east
20 GEM: -3, -2 (2), -1 (3), 0 (4), +1 (2), +3 (3), +4
4 SPO: +2. +3 (2). +4
24 total meteors

1015 - 1115 p.m. EST (0315 - 0415 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 4.8,
Sky Condition: 15% cirrus haze interference, Facing: east
25 GEM: -5, -4, -3, -1 (2), 0 (3), +1 (3), +2 (5), +3 (6), +4 (3)
1 ANT: +3
4 SPO: +2 (2), +3, +4
30 total meteors

1115 - 1215 p.m. EST (0415 - 0515 UT) Teff 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 5.0,
Sky Condition: 15% cirrus haze interference, Facing: south
27 GEM: -5, -3, -2 (2), -1 (3), 0 (3), +1 (4), +2 (7), +3 (4), +4 (2)
3 SPO: +2, +3 (2)
30 total meteors

1215 p.m - 115 a.m. ST (0515 - 0615 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 5.0,
Sky Condition: 20% cirrus haze interference, Facing: south
35 GEM: -6, -3, -2, -1, 0 (3), +1 (5), +2 (10), +3 (9), +4 (4)
1 DLM: +3
5 SPO: +2, +3 (2), +4 (2)
41 total meteors

130 - 200 a.m. EST (0630 - 0700 UT) Teff: .5 hour, No breaks, LM: 4.8, Sky
Condition: 35% cirrus haze interference, Facing: south
13 GEM: -1, 0, +1 (2), +2 (3), +3 (5), +4
1 DLM: +2
3 SPO: +2, +3, +4
17 total meteors

    All told in 4 1/2 hours, I had 143 meteors with 121 GEMs.  Of those 121
GEMs, an incredible 21 GEMs fell into the negative magnitude category!
Only the 1998 Leonids and the 2001 Leonid storm compare with that in all my
41 years of meteor watching!
    Brenda and I had fun comparing impressions on magnitude estimates and
color perceptions during the watch and found we agreed very well most of
the time on our calls.  As usual she would see some that I didn't and vice
versa, but overall our perceptions also seemed to be very similar still,
even after all these years...;o).
    I couldn't help but think that her neighbors must have wondered what
the heck was going on outside as we would hoot and holler and carry on
every time we saw a bright one go by - and that was pretty often...;o).
    I would like to extend a warm thank you to Brenda and Dave for inviting
me down, opening their lovely home and being such awesome hosts once I got
there.  We are also making plans to get back together nextmonth for the
2016 Quadrantids, as the predicted maximum of this elusive shower is very
favorable indeed for the eastern US!!

More later, Paul J in North Florida
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