[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
(meteorobs) Re repost 1996Dec 12/13 biggest
Lest there be any doubt over what the Geminids are capable of doing, I am
reposting from 3 years ago what happened on max night. Another comment first.
Lew wrote :
>The Geminids (along with the Perseids in August) are the crowning jewel
>of the annual meteor shower calendar...
The Perseids are severely tarnished as a jewel in the present period.
Nobody except Bob pulled any surprises on us in 1999 Aug -- poor rates were
universal. Even the Orionids have better rates right now, at least for me.
Excluding the rich Leonid years, there is nothing that comes even close to a
regular Geminid shower. The repost below is NOT about an outburst, but the
REGULAR shower. ( Leap year max night is forced a calendar day early because
of Feb 29 as an extra day.) 1996 repost begins here :
After some early cloudiness moved on, we were left with fully clear skies
after 1126 EST in SW Florida. I went 1031-545 EST (231-1045 UT) , 7:14
hours total time, and saw 559 meteors plus 4 casuals. Haven't done this
well since the same night in 1985. My record is about 720, safe from being
broken by loss of earliest hours plus the next-to-last hour slumping badly.
Using complete hours with no clouds sky 7.3 1126-526, Geminids were
79,79,85,96,42,46. Got the second-best hour ever with the 96 (only one
hour, in 1979 with 103, was ever better). But the great hour was quickly
balanced out the following hour with only 42 (should have had around 80).
Looks like the usual heavy and stable display on balance. It was certainly
exciting to see a really good shower again.
Most of the brighter Geminids had trains. The brightest were a green -6, a
blue -6, and a white -5. The last was a very rare event ; I can't recall
ever seeing a meteor this bright with no color at all. The best of the
night was an orange -8 Puppid-Velid with 10-second train ; a two-degree
segment of the train at the burst site was intensely orange. First time for
a partially colored train.
An approaching front is dying out and expected to do little as it passes, so
tonight is looking all right. Looking forward to some more good rates and a
good showing of bright meteors tonight. Temps in low 60's with an
occasional mosquito last night; will be slightly cooler tonight. Joan went
along and saw 250 meteors in 5 hours. The mosquitoes and coolness got to
her much more than me. Will have some more people out there tonight.
... end repost.
Norman
Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society
Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html