Geminid meteor shower in a sky near you NOW!

up for anything

After having missed so many of these due to cloudy skies, it's brilliant out there tonight. Go and have a look. From where I was standing they seemed to be going mainly from East to West in direction and I was looking North if that makes sense.

I'm posting it here because there was no mention of it in the Astronomy forum and the place looks a bit cobwebby.

December 13-14, 2013, mid-evening until dawn, Geminids
Radiating from near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins, the Geminid meteor shower is one of the finest meteors showers visible in either the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids, with perhaps 50 to 100 meteors per hour visible at the peak. Plus Geminid meteors are often bright, so, if there’s a bright moon, many meteors may be able to overcome the harsh moonlight. These meteors are often as good in the evening as in the hours between midnight and dawn. In 2013, a bright waxing gibbous moon will interfere with the Geminids throughout most of the peak night. Your best bet is to watch on the mornings of December 13 and 14, from moonset until dawn.

sparrowcar

Thanks for the post I had forgotten about this. I popped the head out for a while last night but couldn't see anything. If there's a clearance this eve I'll try again.

up for anything

That's a pity. There was lots of activity when I was out - one at least every minute but they were very rapid and only seemed to travel a short distance. They were gone before I could focus properly but they did keep coming. Fingers crossed the cloud will clear for you tonight.

Tactical

In a variable sky last night I was lucky enough to see a little activity. The bright moon and varying cloud cover were against me but I did get to see some.

Auldloon

I got completely rat arsed on Friday night eventually crashing on the couch. Woke at 5 and somehow remembered to go out for a look. Woowooweewaaa it was spectacular! Best I've ever seen. 2 really long ones as soon as I looked up followed by 15 or 20 more short ones before I realised how cold I was and bolted for bed!

HungryJoey

Just stumbled across this thread but saw a huge one fly from east to west driving home from work Friday night.

Auldloon

HungryJoey wrote: »

Just stumbled across this thread but saw a huge one fly from east to west driving home from work Friday night.

That may have been Santa on a practice run.