Had to share my Geminid experience tonight.

[MKHACHFE]

Hi all,

So, about 10pm tonight (SE UK) , I'm outside the house waiting for my wife to go to the shop...i remember its Geminid season and turn to Castor and Pollux and instantly see a super bright, super green, super long meteor. It was definitely a meteor, not a bolide. It was so bright that I could even see it through the thin cloud it travelled over. Wow! I thought...if this is whats in store this year, its going to be awesome!

 

Cut to me 2 hours later, standing in the garden, staring at the twins..waiting, waiting, waiting....one hour later, still nothing. LOL

Oh well, at least I saw that one amazing one. Meteor showers are weird for me as I'm always convinced that the second I walk indoors, ill miss  few...so i slowly move closer to the patio doors, still looking up. Took me 30 mins to go inside tonight.  I guess the almost full moon right next to Gemini isn't helping much. Last years were very fruitful of me. 

 

Anyone else catch that bright one around 10.10pm I guess? More towards Ursa Major, travelling north-ish. 

 

Cheers

Edited December 12, 2019 by MKHACHFE
crappy spelling

[Davey-T]

Been out for a couple of hours but not seen any.

Dave

[LukeSkywatcher]

Aggghhhhh!!!!. I forgot about the Geminids

 Not sad really because its been horrible and stormy here for the last couple of night.

[carastro]

I always think meteor showers are a disappointment, and have stopped bothering to watch them.  One of these days though I must set up my camera for a few hours worth of capture and see what I get.

Carole 

[LukeSkywatcher]

26 minutes ago, carastro said:

I always think meteor showers are a disappointment, and have stopped bothering to watch them.  One of these days though I must set up my camera for a few hours worth of capture and see what I get.

Carole 

I love the fact that we sit, stand for hours hoping to see any. We think "right, any second now". We dare not go inside for fear of missing them.

Unless of course its cloudy. Then we go to bed and cant sleep because we are looking out every 5 minutes. 

All very exciting.

[maw lod qan]

2 hours ago, carastro said:

I always think meteor showers are a disappointment, and have stopped bothering to watch them.  One of these days though I must set up my camera for a few hours worth of capture and see what I get.

Carole 

Even though I always hope for a good show, the prospect of a really good shower has still eluded me.

The Geminids so far have been my best sighting, 2 years ago.

That doesn't stop me from running my camera all night when I can. The night if 11/28 I took 2500 images and only got 3 meteors. But, I did get 3.

The brief window they gave for the Monoricids (did I spell that correctly) I probably saw 20 meteors, caught 0 on the camera.

I'm hoping to make it to 2032 for the next Leonid storm. 1000 a minute would be unbelievable. That would make me 76 and my dad only got to 72.

I forgot to add. The kid in me still likes laying in a sleeping bag looking up at the stars for hours. I have been known to fall asleep while doing it! So 8 hours out there for a shower is okay with me.

Edited December 12, 2019 by maw lod qan

[Paul M]

The Moon is killing the Gemenids this year. Looking at the weather I won't even see the glow of the Moon this year let alone a meteor!

[Gina]

Meteor showers have always been a disappointment for me too.  Think I may have caught the odd one with my all sky camera.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I saw the most amazing Geminids a few yrs back. Probably the best meteor shower I've ever seen. They were coming thick and fast. I saw about 80 in the space of an hour. 

Cant remember the year, but it was within the last 10 yrs.

[Paul M]

I think my interest in the Gemenids is mostly nostalgic.

It was the first shower I actually looked for back in my pretelescopic period (Oh, how the velociraptors ran!). It became something I looked forward to each year and that continued after I got my first (tasco-esque) 60mm refractor.

Now I'll only really make the effort if the conditions are near perfect. My patience and opportunities are more rare these days! 

[MKHACHFE]

9 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I love the fact that we sit, stand for hours hoping to see any. We think "right, any second now". We dare not go inside for fear of missing them.

Unless of course its cloudy. Then we go to bed and cant sleep because we are looking out every 5 minutes. 

All very exciting.

Not sure "exciting" is the right word to use there. LOL

[MKHACHFE]

5 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I saw the most amazing Geminids a few yrs back. Probably the best meteor shower I've ever seen. They were coming thick and fast. I saw about 80 in the space of an hour. 

Cant remember the year, but it was within the last 10 yrs.

Now THAT sounds exciting. Lucky you. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Weather's pants here MKHACHFE, but I definitely know that, "just one more minute" feeling very well!

I daren't look out the window during a nocturnal toilet visit. It's almost guaranteed to be cloud free right at that moment. So frustrating...

[Gina]

That is so true!!!

[Physopto]

It is so frustrating that when most on SGL are getting excited about a meteor shower, I can never see any, as the light pollution is so bad here in the North East.

Orange skies mostly, or if the local school has its sports ground lit then the sky is a mixture of orange and a bright blue/white cone. extending way up over our heads.

Derek

[maw lod qan]

There must really be something about a meteor streaking across the night sky. Watch just how often you see one on television commercials and even many of the new animated movies, I wont call them cartoons anymore.

Almost every time I'm lucky enough to just look up at the perfect moment, I say "thank you" out loud, even though I'm all alone!

[MKHACHFE]

7 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

There must really be something about a meteor streaking across the night sky. Watch just how often you see one on television commercials and even many of the new animated movies, I wont call them cartoons anymore.

Almost every time I'm lucky enough to just look up at the perfect moment, I say "thank you" out loud, even though I'm all alone!

Ive been lucky to see quite a few very bright meteors as well as a handful of fireball/bolides streaming across the sky...and you are right it's really something. I saw this exact bolide a few months ago and was dumbstruck . I could have easily called my wife to see it as she wasn't far away and she would have made it in time had she rushed,  but I just stood there with my mouth open in awe. There is colour footage mid way through the video. Believe me, the real thing was much brighter and much more jaw dropping. 

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by MKHACHFE
Added a bit of info

[maw lod qan]

Going to work at 3am has its benefits. 

I've seen some incredible meteors, a couple that I'm certain hit in the Gulf of Mexico. 

One a few years back was fragmenting so much you would have thought it an aircraft breaking up.

[MKHACHFE]

12 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

Going to work at 3am has its benefits. 

I've seen some incredible meteors, a couple that I'm certain hit in the Gulf of Mexico. 

One a few years back was fragmenting so much you would have thought it an aircraft breaking up.

That's awesome. I've also  been lucky enough to see my fair share of fireballs/bolides. Its so great to catch them...i guess it helps that I'm almost always looking up when I'm outside.