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(meteorobs) Geminids put on excellent display from Hawaii
Finally there were some clear skies December 14 in Hawaii. On Mauna
Kea there was still cloud about especially in the east and low in the
south. Overhead the limiting magnitude was still good despite some
cirrus, and moon during the first 40 minutes. While setting up my gear
I did see several Geminids, at a rate of 1 or 2 per minute. Then
during telescopic observing there were occasional Geminids seen in my
peripheral vision outside eyepiece.
After about 2 hours the cloud came up the mountain and it was foggy by
10:30 UT. So I walked up to Hale Pohaku to read the backlog of
meteorobs e-mail. When I left about 11:50, the skies were clearing
rapidly and the Geminid radiant was near the zenith. As I walked down
to my observing site I was seeing on average a meteor every 10
seconds, including 10 in a minute. 80% of these were Geminids, but
there were also the odd Monocerotid, a few chi-Orionids, several
sporadics, and a Puppid-Velid---my first---and it travelled south!
This high frequency continued as I set up my gear again again (I'd put
it back in the car to protect from the moisture). Then during
observing I saw about 0.8 Geminids per minute in my peripheral vision
in Canis Major. This was viewing an area only about 300 square
degrees. I didn't notice any fireballs, but many were negative
magnitude.
Overall I saw more casual visual Geminids than telescopic meteors.
So it looked like an excellent visual shower. I wish I could clone
myself and have observed visually too.
Oh yes. I did see about 70 telescopic meteors, including Geminids and
a high proportion emanating from the southern hemisphere. That was
unusual, but not a surprise, compared with watching from Europe.
The LM varied from ~+6.8 when it was most hazy(!) to +7.4 best. The Milky
Way in Puppis and Vela was brilliant towards the end as the cloud had
receded towards Hilo.
Malcolm
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