Comments on: Geminids Meteor shower: How to watch the big fireworks in the sky tonight

By: Shane Simmons

Shane Simmons — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:35:00 +0000

I know this won’t make you feel any better, but my little corner of the Midwest is usually covered in thick clouds when something like this happened–we were covered in a blanket of clouds for the entirety of the 1986 Halley’s Comet event–but we had one of the clearest, most beautiful skies I’ve seen in ages, despite the light pollution here. Jupiter looked as if if could fall on us. :->

By: Shane Simmons

Shane Simmons — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:32:00 +0000

Gah. I even had it running last night, and didn’t see that. I went through the BB backlog here, and finally found this. ABC’s writeup was a joke. Jokes’ on everyone, though, I saw several anyway.

By: Eric Northcutt

Eric Northcutt — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:47:00 +0000

I just got back from going out to watch these near Emerson, GA and they were very impressive! I was out for about 30 minutes (12:45 AM to 1:15 AM) and saw at least 25 which is the best I’ve ever seen. 5 or 6 of them were very bright and lasted about 1 to 1.5 seconds. Good times!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Less than 2 inches of rain in the last year, but of course it’s raining today.

By: Evan G.

Evan G. — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:08:00 +0000

“Mark Armstrong: No. The peak is right about midnight in the United States. So, about that time the Geminids will be — went up so it’s quite a favorable peak for the U.K. and not too bad for the U.S. either.”
Time zones? Bah! Midnight everywhere!

By: Jason Weisberger

Jason Weisberger — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:11:00 +0000

Thank you, Miles! This is exactly the awesome kind of stuff we all look forward to seeing more of from you!

By: Miles O'Brien

Miles O'Brien — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Darker is better, but Geminids are pretty bright. So you might see some meteors in the city.

By: Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:54:00 +0000

My goof, I’ve removed it!

By: beforewepost

beforewepost — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:35:00 +0000

There’s a chance we’ll see a meteor storm on May 23-24, 2014 . Comet 209P’s tail is going to intersect earth’s orbit then.

More info at http://www.imcce.fr/langues/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/meteor/DATABASE/209_LINEAR/2014/index.php

By: RadioSilence

RadioSilence — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:14:00 +0000

That second video looks like a satellite or other space-junk breaking up in the atmosphere. Meteors zip past in a flash and are gone.

By: brandon445

brandon445 — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Thanks for the heads up (literally)! I also found some great info on http://www.spacedex.com/geminids if anyone is interested!

By: Brian Sprague

Brian Sprague — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:01:00 +0000

There seems to be about an equal number of sources saying that Wednesday night was the peak as sources saying that Thursday night is the peak. I and a few others I know all saw a decent show last night. So which is it? In terms of hard data, the International Meteor Organization’s live chart shows the frequency falling off after peaking late Wednesday evening EST.

http://www.imo.net/live/geminids2012/

By: RadioSilence

RadioSilence — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Yep, Google Sky Map has the Geminids radiant marked.

By: Jorpho

Jorpho — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Mother Nature is offering up her best fireworks show of the year tonight. All you have to do is hope for clear skies, pour a warm beverage in a thermos, put on some layers and head outside tonight to take it all in.

And if you live in the city, find safe transportation out to the middle of nowhere and back again, amirite?