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(meteorobs) Geminid Photos (Anza Borrego)
I have some preliminary photos of Geminid meteors (Anza Borrego):
http://www.comet-track.com/meteor/geminids99/geminids99.html
It was a good show visually, many meteors observed. Last year ('98, see
http://www.comet-track.com/meteor/geminids98/geminids98.html), there
were more "extreme" fireballs. I.e., the type where you could detect
"flashes" out of the corner of your eye. Just like the Leonids, I
didn't get the rip-shit photo results like in '98. However, this year,
there was a HUGE fireball in the west. (as per R. Lunsford's report) I
was inside my van, just about to lie down for a 15 min catnap: the whole
inside just LIT UP.
Gemini rises ~7pm, so I had to setup FAST to catch some earth-grazers.
I ran meteor patrol on 3 mounts, 7pm - 6am. 11 hours. It was a
murderous 4 hour drive to my site (including some 4-wheeling at night),
so I was pretty wiped out (a "walking-zombie"). So, I cancelled-off
on the 4th mount (5 cameras planned). Also cancelled-off on medium
format (2 cameras planned). In retrospect, it didn't matter, so I saved
some film & $$. Last year, it was so balmy, I was in short-sleeve
T-shirt until 1am. This year, it was cold (40 deg) & had to double up
on clothing.
At 12pm, I was "hitting the wall". The "sitting down" & my sleepiness
was a formula for falling asleep. I decided to take 15 min catnaps.(All
my exposures were done at 15 min intervals) This lasted until
~2:30am.. I spent the remaining morning standing up & walking around
(to keep myself awake), looking up. There was a bright meteor overhead
near the Big Dipper, 2nd best compared to the MONSTER.
I will be uploading more images over next few days
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