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

Wed Dec 16 04:58:12 EST 2015

Thank you, Michel.  Glad you got to see at least some of the GEM action
this year, I will indeed long and fondly remember the 2015 GEMs even though
I missed the entire maximum night!!  I think I might get a bumper sticker
for my car that says: "I Love Sol 262" and have everyone else wonder what
the heck that means...;o).

Happy Holidays to all, Paul J in North Florida

On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 3:39 AM, Michel Vandeputte <
michelvandeputte at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Perfect Paul!!
> I had the same feeling on Dec 14-15, 2007, observing during the 'fireball
> window' of the Geminids. Only the Leonid returns from 1998 and 2001 and
> perhaps the 2005 resonant Taurid shower were more impressive...
>
> Here in Belgium; as expected; I could only watch the Geminids as a tourist
> through some minor holes... But I saw some nice ones, incl. fireballs
> (-8,-4) and lots of -2's...  Nothing for data reduction. Next year: full
> moon. But in 2017 I hope to observe again at sol 262 under crystal clear
> skies!
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Michel Vandeputte
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:38:03 -0500
> From: jonesp0854 at gmail.com
> To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
> Subject: (meteorobs) Dec 14/15, 2015 Post-max Geminid obs from Deltona,
> Florida - AMAZING!!!!!
>
>
> 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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