Geminids tonight if you have a clear sky

[MacDoc]

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The annual Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak globally around 21 hr UT (15 hr CST) on 2012 DEC 13. Unlike the usual recommendation to observe after midnight, this shower should be fairly prominent most of the night since Gemini rises around 18:00 local time. So Thursday night should be best for North Americans, but tonight (Wednesday) may be equally good. In general, northern hemisphere observers have the advantage.

The constellation Gemini is the radiant, meaning the meteors’ tails appear to be pointing back toward it. However, the meteors are about as likely to appear anywhere in your sky.

Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids are believed to be remnants of an asteroid rather than a comet. They were first observed in 1862, far more recently than most of the major showers. The display has been increasing in intensity in recent years, with reports averaging two meteors per minute. The Dark Moon will provide no hindrance this year.

I'm going to head over to the flying field near Arthur ( York Soaring ) - few lights and a club house.
Had a great time a couple years back...big time fireballs and 60-80 per hour - even a couple in formation.
Might be good if it's clear.

 

[RockerGuy]

Cities suck cant watch it from home

Sent from my phone using my paws

 

[jc100]

These are mayans coming back for the apocalypse.

 

[MacDoc]

hehe

was a ver good show.... was out at the flying field til 3 am
60 or so an hour and 6 good sized ones from the car on the way up - that's unusal.
Was bloody cold tho.

I actually wasn't going to go but decided to watch from my hot tub in the city and when I spotted 4 in a few minutes soaking figured it was going to be an active night.
It was tho had to pull over an have a nap on the way home. Too sleepy to drive.

ah that was fun- late home so napped by the highway

Not quite as spectacular as a couple years ago where I chatted with another pilot while watching the show - Leonids maybe but was worthwhile and even caught a nice one just on the way home despite all the city lights.

Hobbit in a few hours...sleep time
Was very good sky at the zenith with some lower haze around the horizon...was just at zero so would be expected. Certainly the most from a vehicle by far. So many decent size around the horizon

here is a speed up of a video of the shower - seems about right

Tonight! Geminid meteor show, moving at 80 stars per hour - latimes.com

figure those visible ones were about one a minute

to give a reference of what CAN occur....

The Leonids are famous because their meteor showers, or storms, can be, and have been in a few cases, among the most spectacular. Because of the superlative storm of 1833 and the recent developments in scientific thought of the time (see for example the identification of Halley's Comet) the Leonids have had a major effect on the development of the scientific study of meteors which had previously been thought to be atmospheric phenomena. The meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[8] but another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[1] over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. I

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