92 replies to this topic

[EricTheCat]

Nice. It's interesting that we are so near with such different result.

Of course I was just naked eye.

My son is in Albert Lea, how far south are ya? Maybe we could meet and share sometime when I visit the kid.

I am about 20 miles from Albert Lea.  Rural Waseca county.

[EricTheCat]

Here is another take on the same data that I made my previous composite with.  At the end of my capture I noticed there was a possibility of using that orientation to get a portrait version.

 

 

 

[UnityLover]

Most of mine on wednesday were actually not too bright, around a belt star in brightness, and had small trails.
 

[naztronomy]

Apparently I had a very different experience here in north central NC.

 

I was out from 2:20 AM EST to 4:20AM EST. I counted 200 meteors. Best shower in several years here !

Whoa! My best was the Delta Aquarids a few years ago where I lost count around 50. I wonder if I would have seen more if I wasn't right by Boston. But here's what I was able to image. 19 meteors here but I saw another 6-7 visually that were pretty bright. 

 

 

I would like to one day see 200 meteors. I'm probably at 200 total in my lifetime 

[chrysalis]

Whoa! My best was the Delta Aquarids a few years ago where I lost count around 50. I wonder if I would have seen more if I wasn't right by Boston. But here's what I was able to image. 19 meteors here but I saw another 6-7 visually that were pretty bright. 

 

Geminids_Meteor-Shower_2023_sm.jpg

 

I would like to one day see 200 meteors. I'm probably at 200 total in my lifetime 

just wait until the next Leonids in around 2033.

 

Back in (1999? 2000?) we were seeing 200/hour on the peak morning and UUNFORTUNATELY a big cloud cover came up just as it was still ramping up around 5 AM. A friend of mine who had driven in from another area pulled over to look and estimated 1000/hr!!!

Edited by chrysalis, 16 December 2023 - 08:27 AM.

[EricTheCat]

:lol just wait until the next Leonids in around 2033.

 

Back in (1999? 2000?) we were seeing 200/hour at peak and UUNFORTUNATELY a big cloud cover came up just as it was still ramping up. A friend of mine who had driven in from another area pulled over to look and estimated 1000/hr!!!

I know there were some other great years for the Leonids that I missed but I was lucky enough to see the 2001 Leonids.  It was amazing.  Went walking with some friends and there were times when there would be 5 meteors at a time. 

 

I wish I was in to photography back then.  It wasn't until the next spring that I had my first SLR.

 

No shower I have seen since has touched that level of activity.  Though the Persieds and then the Geminids this year did not disappoint! 

 

I wonder how the Quadrantids will be (Jan 3-4). 

[EricTheCat]

Here is a composite of some from my 28mm lens data.  Raining stars!  Still lots to go through.

 

 

 

[Dave Mitsky]

just wait until the next Leonids in around 2033.

 

Back in (1999? 2000?) we were seeing 200/hour on the peak morning and UUNFORTUNATELY a big cloud cover came up just as it was still ramping up around 5 AM. A friend of mine who had driven in from another area pulled over to look and estimated 1000/hr!!!

Unfortunately, you may have to wait until 2099.

The Leonids of mid-November (max: November 17-19) are quite unpredictable, with rich displays occurring roughly every 33 years. The last Leonid storm period occurred from 1998 through 2002. Studies have shown that no Leonid storms will occur in either 2033 or 2066. We will have to wait until 2099 for a return of the activity recently seen during the past few years.

https://www.amsmeteo...meteor-showers/


 

[herschelobjects]

Unfortunately, you may have to wait until 2099.

The Leonids of mid-November (max: November 17-19) are quite unpredictable, with rich displays occurring roughly every 33 years. The last Leonid storm period occurred from 1998 through 2002. Studies have shown that no Leonid storms will occur in either 2033 or 2066. We will have to wait until 2099 for a return of the activity recently seen during the past few years.

https://www.amsmeteo...meteor-showers/


 

Considering that the display in 1866 had moderate activity, while 1899 and 1933 seem to be virtually nonexistent, is it possible that storms actually did occur but happened in either: a) daylight or b) at night, but in a part of the globe that is unpopulated (like the middle of the Pacific Ocean?) or c) part of the world where there was extensive cloud cover at the time. Storms are generally short-lived (i.e. less than 10 hours), so I think it’s possible that something may have happened and gone completely unnoticed. Have a look at this article published in the Nov. 1966 issue of S&T. Shortly before an absolutely hellacious storm, there was no prediction of anything more than a nice shower. Considering that meteor researchers have over the last few years predicted meteor outbursts based on the data (outbursts that did not occur), predictions for meteor activity are largely for gypsies. I’ll be out in 2031, 2032, 2033 and beyond, weather and lifespan permitting.

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[Dave Mitsky]

After 2002, however, there will be no more Leonid storms for a very long time. Donald K. Yeomans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well as Brian G. Marsden and Gareth V. Williams at the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have calculated the path of 55P/Tempel-Tuttle through future perturbations. They all find that as the comet approaches the Sun toward a May 2031 perihelion, it will pass within 1.5 a.u. of Jupiter in August 2029. This encounter will push the comet closer to the Sun and increase the distance between Earth’s orbit and the comet’s to 0.0162 a.u. — their largest separation since 1733. Such a large gulf between the two orbits may preclude any substantial meteor activity for the year 2031, and for several years thereafter, when the next cycle of Leonid storms would normally be expected.
 

In examining this next Leonid cycle, McNaught has found three outlying dust trails that the Earth will approach in the years 2033 and 2034. "Unfortunately," he notes, "they are probably too distant for any reasonable chance of high activity."

 

There will be little improvement at the comet’s subsequent return in 2065, for the separation between the orbits of the comet and the Earth will have diminished only slightly to 0.0146 a.u.

 

In 2098 the separation of the orbits shrinks to 0.0062 a.u. And in 2131, for the first time since 1633, the comet crosses our orbital plane slightly outside the Earth’s orbit at a distance of 0.0089 a.u. Not until one, or both, of these remote years can our great grandchildren expect to witness a storm of Leonid meteors.

https://skyandtelesc...e-grand-finale/

[yuzameh]

Here is a composite from frames captured with my 15mm lens using a star tracker.

 

This is a definite work in progress.  There are a lot of possibilities with this data.  In this result I stacked images for the foreground separately and then combined them.  Something I don't have a lot of practice with so I'm hoping for a better result after some more time and practice.

 

Meteors-2023-12-14-Combine1WithBGS.jpg

 

Camera: Canon Rebel T8i

Lens: 15mm f/2.8 sigma

Star tracker: iOptron SkyGuider pro

Exposure: 15sec at ISO 6400 and f/2.8 for meteors, 30 sec at ISO 3200 and f/2.8 for foreground

As it also shows Gemini well you've happenstance also depicted the radiant quite beautifully.

 

(I can just make out the fuzzyness of M35 too)

[EricTheCat]

As it also shows Gemini well you've happenstance also depicted the radiant quite beautifully.

 

(I can just make out the fuzzyness of M35 too)

Thanks!  Wasn't quite happenstance though.  I planned that composition for weeks.

[EricTheCat]

In case anyone wants to see it, I added a video including a slideshow of images, time-lapse of persistent trains and some video clips of meteors from the meteor shower to my youtube channel here:

https://youtu.be/gfEIpE_5XYY

[Dave Mitsky]

As it also shows Gemini well you've happenstance also depicted the radiant quite beautifully.

 

(I can just make out the fuzzyness of M35 too)

The nearby clusters Collinder 65 and Collinder 69 are also visible.

https://www.starobse...es/collinder65/

[Dave Mitsky]

Here's my Geminid meteor tally for this year's shower:

 

I happened to see a single Geminid, which was perhaps first to zero magnitude in brightness, as I was preparing to leave the Naylor Observatory on the morning of December 12th.

 

I logged 22 Geminids, 4 of which were memorable, on the morning of December 13th.  I also saw one sporadic meteor.

 

On the morning of December 14th, my total was 38 Geminids, with approximately 20 of them being bright or fairly bright.

 

I saw 17 Geminids on the morning of December 15th, including a fireball, which may have been between -6 and -8 magnitude, and 4 other bright meteors.

 

By bright, I mean between -1 and -2 magnitude.  Observing periods ranged from 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

I observed from the orange zone Naylor Observatory on all four occasions.  My highest SQM-L reading was 19.7 magnitudes per square arc second.

[Filigree Apogee]

I was able to get out and see the Geminids this year. I was taking some images with the scope and I kept noticing streaks over my subs and I thought That's way too many satellites for one night. And then I remembered the meteor shower! I threw a cornpack into the microwave, bundled up in my coat, and settled in under a blanket with my hotpack to watch the skies. Stayed out there for two, maybe two and a half hours. I definitely saw at least 50-52+ I lost count in the middle. Should get a clicker for next time. Didn't see anything on the subsequent nights. Still, pretty good show! Several very long tails. No fireballs this year. (I caught one either last year or the year before in my 30 mins of observing on my lunch break)

 

It'll be interesting to go through and tally my subs for the night and see how many I scored there that I didn't see with the naked eye.

[Alex Swartzinski]

Wonderful images!

 

This was my first year being under good skies during the Geminids.

 

On December 14th, I was at my dark site for my typical DSO mission. I figured the shower would be a nice bonus, but it was quite spectacular.

 

I've seen quite a few bright meteors in my observing career, but I caught at least 5-8 which left a smoke trail as they streaked across the sky. 

 

Viewing at the edge of a lake, I also saw several bright ones reflect off the water. 

 

I get what all the hype is about now! 

 

It doesn't get much better than this in my book: 

 

Edited by Alex Swartzinski, 18 December 2023 - 09:03 PM.

[UnityLover]

Friday, I saw 1 meteor.

I did see and sketch ngc 2158 next to m35, sketched m42, and saw the crab nebula.