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

Wed Dec 16 09:45:58 EST 2015

Good one, Michel.  And you're right, under the stars at sol 262 is the only
place to be (except maybe in Full Moon years, such as 2016).  Although, at
least for the 14/15 night, many of those bright GEMs would probably show
up even through a Full Moon...;o).    That's another good car bumper
sticker for us meteor diehards also: "I'd Rather be Meteor Watching!"
...right next to the one that says: "I'd rather be fishing... or boating...
or skiing... or hiking... or biking..."    So many passions, so little
time...;o).

Clear skies all, Paul J

On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 5:21 AM, Michel Vandeputte <
michelvandeputte at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Paul,
>
> I am a dedicated cyclist as well and biked on December 14  103km. I called
> my tour: 'The 262 Solar Longitude GranFondo' ;-)
> I hope this was a once in a lifetime experience. I shoud be out under the
> stars around sol 262...
> Next year full moon... But 2017...;-)
>
> Long trains,
>
> Michel Vandeputte
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2015 04:58:12 -0500
> From: jonesp0854 at gmail.com
> To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
> Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Dec 14/15, 2015 Post-max Geminid obs from
> Deltona, Florida - AMAZING!!!!!
>
>
> 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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