92 replies to this topic

[Dave Mitsky]

Predicted peak: is predicted** for December 14, 2023, at 19:27 UTC.
When to watch: Since the radiant rises in mid-evening, you can watch for Geminids all night around the peak dates of December 13 and 14. Plus, a young waxing crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminids in 2023.

 

https://earthsky.org...-meteor-shower/

[Dave Mitsky]

Geminids (GEM)
Active from November 19th to December 24th, 2023  Currently active
The Geminids are usually the strongest meteor shower of the year and meteor enthusiasts are certain to circle December 13 and 14 on their calendars. This is the one major shower that provides good activity prior to midnight as the constellation of Gemini is well placed from 22:00 onward. The Geminids are often bright and intensely colored. Due to their medium-slow velocity, persistent trains are not usually seen. These meteors are also seen in the southern hemisphere, but only during the middle of the night and at a reduced rate.

Shower details - Radiant: 07:24 +32.3° - ZHR: 150 - Velocity: 21 miles/sec (medium - 34km/sec) - Parent Object: 3200 Phaethon (asteroid)

Next Peak - The Geminids will next peak on the Dec 13-14, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 1% full.

 

https://www.imo.net/...urces/calendar/

[Dave Mitsky]

https://www.planetar...e-meteor-shower

[Dave Mitsky]

https://www.timeandd...ds-meteors-2023

[MichaelJB]

Dave,

Like you, I am in Pennslvyania.  I have been reading several articles about the "best day and time to see this" with the peak happending during day light hours.    May I ask your opinion, if cold weather and time of day is of no concern, what day and time frame would you recommend for the best experience?

Mike

 

 

Predicted peak: is predicted** for December 14, 2023, at 19:27 UTC.
When to watch: Since the radiant rises in mid-evening, you can watch for Geminids all night around the peak dates of December 13 and 14. Plus, a young waxing crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminids in 2023.

 

https://earthsky.org...-meteor-shower/

[Dave Mitsky]

Dave,

Like you, I am in Pennslvyania.  I have been reading several articles about the "best day and time to see this" with the peak happending during day light hours.    May I ask your opinion, if cold weather and time of day is of no concern, what day and time frame would you recommend for the best experience?

Mike

Since the predicted peak falls between the two nights, either one or both will be good times to watch.  The radiant rises comparatively early for the Geminids but by 2:00 a.m. EST it will culminate and thus be at its highest altitude.

Edited by Dave Mitsky, 12 December 2023 - 08:38 PM.

[Dave Mitsky]

I wasn't doing a dedicated count but I did happen to catch one fairly bright Geminid, perhaps first magnitude in brightness, earlier tonight.

[Dave Mitsky]

There's more at the 2023 Geminids at the following URLs:

https://www.astronom...th-dave-eicher/

 

https://skyandtelesc...t-the-geminids/

 

https://bigthink.com...-best-all-time/

[Dave Mitsky]

This screen capture from Stellarium shows the position of the radiant on December 14th at 2:00 a.m. EST.

Attached Thumbnails

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[MichaelJB]

So does this mean 2am would be the a prime viewing time considering peak and radiant?

[Dave Mitsky]

In general, more meteors can be seen in the hours before dawn due to the Earth's orientation. 
 

https://public.nrao....ve more of them.

 

Having the radiant as high as possible is icing on the cake.

 

https://in-the-sky.o...hal_hourly_rate

[Dave Mitsky]

I've been doing a casual Geminid watch from the Naylor Observatory, while running a Seestar S50.  I logged my first Geminid at 12:41 a.m. EST.  It was short in duration, moderately bright, and appeared close to Castor.  Since then I've seen 11 Geminids, 9 during the first hour or so, minus the time I've spent looking at the Seestar readout on my iPhone.  Three of the meteors were bright, including one that was at least magnitude -1, and the last one I saw, which traveled along Gemini and which was just a tad less bright than Jupiter.  Most of the meteors have been fairly fast.  

It's rather cold and the transparency is reasonably good.  The highest SQM-L reading that I recorded was 19.54 magnitudes per square arc second.  I'm about to go out again after taking this warm-up break.

 

[Dave Mitsky]

Well, it took a while but my final tally was 22 meteors, 4 of which were memorable.  
 

[edsmx5]

I was our for about an hour (2:30-3:30am est): boy was it COLD!! I counted three, short and faint. To be fair, I had my eye(s) in an EP most of that time, they may have been all around me! Nothing special in my viewing, just Open Clusters, mostly in Auriga and Canis Major, plus the usual suspects: Orion, the Pleiades, the DC.
Did I say it was COLD??!!

[MichaelJB]

These were all done prior to the peak.... so I would assume it would be better tonight?

[edsmx5]

These were all done prior to the peak.... so I would assume it would be better tonight?

Yes, and to be fair,I wasn't looking for them either last night: I'm sure that more than a few whizzed by unnoticed by me.

[RayUh]

Predicted peak: is predicted** for December 14, 2023, at 19:27 UTC.
When to watch: Since the radiant rises in mid-evening, you can watch for Geminids all night around the peak dates of December 13 and 14. Plus, a young waxing crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminids in 2023.

 

https://earthsky.org...-meteor-shower/

I live at mid latitutes (42 oN ), and saw a nice fireball last evening (the 12th), in the West near Vega, 8 PM.

[LeoUK]

Looks like the peak time prediction is accurate. I just (@ ~18:25 UT) observed a burst of 5 GEMs, including a couple of negative magnitude members, in about as many seconds!

[Dave Mitsky]

https://stardate.org...gram/2023-12-11

[LeoUK]

Geminids meteor shower 2023 LIVE from Subaru Telescope MaunaKea, Hawaii - YouTube

[Dave Mitsky]

https://www.imo.net/...shower-in-2023/

[Dave Mitsky]

https://www.universa...ght/#more-16989

[Dave Mitsky]

https://spaceweather...th=12&year=2023

[Daiserina]

Colorado Springs, heavy snow, thick clouds, no geminids will be seen....

Edited by Daiserina, 13 December 2023 - 06:28 PM.

[andrew hampton]

I saw some bright Geminids tonight, and managed to capture this one above Orion with iPhone.