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(meteorobs) Geminids, Oregon style
The forecast was pretty blunt:
Rain, changing to snow late. Accumulation of 3-5 inches Thursday night and an additional 2 inches possible Friday.
I checked the sky a couple of times during the night, then drifted off. Awaking spontaneously at 4:22am (12:22 UT), I looked out my window and could see a handful of stars in Gemini and Auriga. I checked the rest of the sky; this was the only partial break. Limiting magnitude was intitially +2 or +3 in a small area, and I saw nothing until 4:43, when a -2 Geminid appeared near Capella. Two minutes later, there was a -1 in Orion (now becoming visible), and at 4:48 a +2 in Gemini. The clouds thickened again, and my next Geminid was at 5:02. A +2 antihelion at 5:06, followed by a +1 Geminid at 5:07. Then a sporadic, then another Geminid at 5:17. Two bright Geminids at 5:23. Up to this point the sucker hole was still pretty small, with a lot of haze. Then everything opened up at around 5:27. I decided to go for an outside session. Maybe I could even get in a half-hour of real observing before twilight. Of course, I had to get dressed for the (not so) cold and visit the restroom. When I got out to the yard at 5:37, there were a few clouds floating through. I started a watch at 5:38:00, saw a +1 Geminid 40 seconds in, and by 5:39:00 the obstruction was too great. A minute later, there was a fireball in Orion through the clouds (no stars visible near its path), and the sky was 100% obstructed. By the time I got back into bed, not even Jupiter was visible.
Suckah!
--
Wes Stone
Chiloquin, OR
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