Date: 14 Dec 2006 09:45:54
From: Dave Mitsky
Subject: The Great Geminid Fog-Out
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The Geminids have been my favorite meteor shower for many years.
Last night I counted 21 Geminid meteors during my first hour at the ASH
Naylor Observatory. Weather conditions were far from ideal but at least
the sky was clear and the temperature was rather mild. However, the
zenithal VLM was only about 4.5 so the transparency was not very good.
After 60 minutes of sitting still, I took a short break to make some
coffee and then resumed counting.
As the second hour progressed, the fog that had been forecast appeared
in force and began to climb the hill to the observatory grounds. Before
too long all I could see were first and second magnitude stars so I
gave up shortly after midnight (5:04 UT), which was the end of the
third half hour. I counted 7 meteors during those 30 minutes.
Most of the Geminids that I saw were short and quick, although two had
moderately long trains. Five of them were at least as bright as Sirius,
with one of them being distinctly brighter.
Before leaving, I had a quick look at Saturn through an 8" f/6 Hardin
Dob using magnifications of 47 (26mm Tele Vue Ploessl), 152 (8mm
Brandon), and 203x (6mm Edscorp ortho).
The return trip through the pea soup fog was lots of fun.
Dave Mitsky
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