Geminid Meteor Shower

An anonymous reader writes "physorg.com is carrying a story on the upcoming Geminid meteor shower, which will peak on December 13th. This is usually a high-rate meteor shower, and this year will be no different. The early morning hours are the best time to see them. Space.com is also reporting on the shower. This shower was also covered by Slashdot in 2003, 2002, and 2001."

Comments

Naked eyes and/or binoculars...

[datastalker]

Remember kids, for best viewing experience, just lie on the ground facing up - most of this can be seen with the naked eyes. If you want to try binoculars, that might work as well - but telescopes are not needed for this one. If someone had told me that the first time I went out to look, I wouldn't have wasted those first two hours wondering why I couldn't see anything. ;)

Re:Naked eyes and/or binoculars...

[imsabbel]

Binoculars not only dont help, they hurt. Telescopes even more...
You need to be able to watch as much of the sky as possibly... the small aperture of any maginification device will only cause you to muss most of the events...

Meteor Shower?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds painful, I'll stick with the more traditional water based shower thanks.

Light pollution

[FiReaNGeL]

I sure love meteor showers (as everyone does I guess; I mean, free wishes!), but observing them in non-light polluted areas ain't easy. You have to get out of town, and even then, finding a 100% dark place is an adventure nowadays.

Re:Light pollution

[ztirffritz]

The best stargazing I've ever done was after helping a friend build a tent platform on Blewitt Pass in Washington state. I saw so many stars I thought my eyes were broken. I now unerstand why we were building a tent platform and not a cabin. I developed a whole new appreciation for star gazing. I still don't get the whole constellations naming thing. I don't see the pictures nor do I see the appeal.

Re:Light pollution

[ScrewMaster]

At least you still have them. Thirty years ago, we would get swarms of thousands upon thousands of them. But I read that they need low-hanging shrubs and bushes and the like to reproduce, and since so much of my area has been built up in the past few decades you hardly ever see lightning bugs any more. Too bad, they really are a neat adaptation. As a kid I would collect them in a bottle and watch them blink by my bedside all night, and let them go in the morning.

Quite a few years ago I went up to Rhinelander, WI to visit some friends. They lived on a ten acre spread (heavily forested) out in the middle of nowhere. It was incredibly dark and quiet at night: I hadn't realized just how much light and sound is generated populated areas that you don't even notice until it isn't there. I have to admit, I got a better night's sleep than I'd had in years.

Re:Light pollution

[Cecil]

I still don't get the whole constellations naming thing. I don't see the pictures nor do I see the appeal.

The reason we still bother having constellations today is because they provide an easy way of mapping the sky in your head (at least once you get to know them). It's the similar to the way saying something is in Northern Canada gives you a better idea of where it is than saying something is at 61.297 N 112.883 W, even though the former is completely arbitrary.

Clouds

[Flying Purple Wombat]

Weather forecast calls for clouds, rain and snow for the next 2-3 days. :-(

Why can't they schedule these things for clear nights?

Shower, take two (this time, it's funny, i swear!)

[daniil]

This shower was also covered by Slashdot in 2003, 2002, and 2001.

It's been running for three years? Which one of you bastards forgot to turn off the tap?

Meteor scatter

[latroM]

Meteor showers used by radio amateurs for meteor scatter. Basically they point their beams at the meteor shower when it hits earth and have long distance QSOs (radio amateur contacts) by bouncing their signal from the rocks.

Re:Meteor scatter

[Flying Purple Wombat]

The signals are actually reflected from the trails of ionized gas created by the rocks burning up in the atmosphere. The rocks themselves are far too small to be useful reflectors.

Re:THIS is as close as geeks get to bathing

[daniil]

I think you meant it's as close as they get to sunbathing. The closest they get to _bathing_ is the water pipe running along the basement wall.

Ok, i'll bite

[daniil]

Don't worry if you miss this one, for Mother Nature has a Christmas present for you. The Ursids are next. They max out on December 22-23. It's not as strong as the Geminid shower, but hey, it's still better than nothing.

Other Annual Nerd News Events (Funny, dammit)

[YankeeInExile]

Remember, in a few weeks, the year number will increment for all users of the Gregorian calendar.

You read it here on /. first! Warn all your friends -- don't be one of those saps still writing 2004 on your checks come next January!

Ham radio gear not required

[w9wi]

It may be possible to observe the radio effects of the meteor shower without being a ham or having an extensive station.

Regular FM radio and TV broadcasts are also reflected by the ionized trails.

Try tuning to an empty channel, as low on the dial as possible. Of course, for TV you'll need a set with a regular antenna, not cable or satellite. For FM, your car radio is probably the best radio you own for this purpose.

Sit there and listen/watch. You should see/hear brief bursts of signal. If you're really lucky, you'll hear something that will allow you to identify the station you saw/heard.

Might be something interesting to listen to while you're waiting for visible meteors -- or for the clouds to go away...

For those in Southern California who want dark...

[The Master Control P]

Go to Mt. Pinos. If you live around the LA area, just hop on the I-5 north. Keep going until you get to a sign that says "Frazier Park" and turn off. Then head past the gas stations and keep on going straight. You'll pass through town, into the hills (with lots of little country homes) and finally into the winding road that goes up Mount Pinos. As you go up the windy little road, you'll notice little signs on the right side of the road that have numbers on them... The road ends at 13.50.

When you arrive, the view is just breathtaking. Every constellation clearly visible. The end of the road is a large, cleared parking area ringed by trees up to about 20 degrees elevation. And it's definetly Geminid season... I saw about 10 or 12 meteors in the occasional times I looked up over about 3 hours.

Come heavily dressed (hits freezing before midnight): I find that two shirts and a jacket plus sweat pants and windbreaker pants will keep you warm for about 3-4 hours.

To get an idea of the weather, use the Mt. Pinos Dark Sky Clock.

Come on over. :)

[Shag]

A bunch of us hardy souls will doubtless be at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station at 9200 feet, watching.

(I'd watch from the summit but it's gonna be colder up there.)

The most convenient airports are ITO and KOA in that order. :)

Can I see them in Somerset?

[Limax Maximus]

I saw several Meteors between 11pm last night and 2am this morning on the North Wales coast while doing some field work on some lagoons there (don't ask, Ok). It was certainly the best view of meteors I have had made even better by seeing some reflections of them in the pools. In Somerset you will certainly be able to see them unless you're: a) in a town centre b) standing below a street light c) It's cloudy (Yes, I know someone who spent hours looking on a cloudy night) d) blind e) unlucky It might take a while and don't expect to see one in 5 minutes - I was lucky last night as I'd forgotten about it until I saw a streak across the sky and started to look. I was also unlucky as my welly leaked and it wasn't all that warm last night... Limax Max (a geek who gets out - almost)

Hints for observing and reporting

[lbastiae]

The International Meteor Organization has some guidelines online for reporting your observations of the Geminids. Take a look at http://www.imo.net/news/news.html#geminids2004 Good luck... Luc