Geminid Meteor Shower: Look Up After 10 PM EST Tonight

[Jimmy Snyder]

Look up after 10 pm EST tonight and be sure to duck lest you get one of these grains of sand in your eye. The nearly full moon will wash out some of it, but still you should get 40 streaks an hour. I'm really looking forward to it, as we haven't had a shower in months.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I'm really looking forward to it, as we haven't had a shower in months.

I spend a month in the shower once a year and I'm good for the next 11.

 

[Evo]

Oh thanks Jimmy, it's raining here!

 

[turbo]

Oh thanks Jimmy, it's raining here!

Got a cloud-deck that is not quite solid enough to block off the Moon, but is surely thick enough to block off meteors.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Oh thanks Jimmy, it's raining here!

Just as well. I'm afraid one would land on your head and break your toe.

 

[Evo]

Just as well. I'm afraid one would land on your head and break your toe.

At least I could get out a yelp first! Now it will just be THUD..HISSSSSSS

 

[Evo]

I love this commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNLNeHySon0&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNLNeHySon0&feature=related

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Crud, I just got online to see what weather is like outside. It is mostly cloudy out.

I can't even remember what we did before we had the internet.

 

[Evo]

Crud, I just got online to see what weather is like outside. It is mostly cloudy out.

I can't even remember what we did before we had the internet.

We didn't know there was a meteor shower until 3 months later when you noticed a comment in Scientific American asking if anyone had seen it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We didn't know there was a meteor shower until 3 months later when you noticed a comment in Scientific American asking if anyone had seen it.

I meant to check the weather.

 

[Evo]

I meant to check the weather.

You could check the weather? When I was young, you went out the front door...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You could check the weather? When I was young, you went out the front door...

Oh yeah. I just look online now.

Honestly, one day I caught myself getting online to see if it was raining outside.

 

[Evo]

Oh yeah. I just look online now.

Honestly, one day I caught myself getting online to see if it was raining outside.

Our local forecast is so bad that whatever they forecast, you know it will be the opposite. No snow in the forecast=blizzard.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Honestly, one day I caught myself getting online to see if it was raining outside.

According to the internet it's 52F, with scattered clouds, 80% humidity, winds E at 4pmh, here.
No mention of meteors.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

According to the internet it's 52F, with scattered clouds, 80% humidity, winds E at 4pmh, here.
No mention of meteors.

Here it is 25F and cloudy, with rain and snow expected until June.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

The major meteor showers occur at the same time every year. They are caused by the Earth passing through the remains of a comet's tail.

Meteor shower

The current infestation is caused by an asteroid that calls itself 3200 Phaethon, known by its friends as simply Phaethon, discovered by Fred Whipple (his brother George was stock boy for our local grocery store before he was fired for damaging the goods. There is no record of Fred ever being fired for squeezing an asteroid). According to the official astronomical website Wiki, Phaethon approached to 18.1 Gm (that's Mm with a G) of Kansas on December 10, 2007. It will draw nearer in 2017, 2050, 2060, and closer still on December 14, 2093, passing within 0.0198 AU (3.0 Gm). This last pass is most disconcerting since by then Evo will be too old to get out of its way.

 

[TumblingDice]

From Southern California: I just stepped out on the patio and cranked my neck back to look as straight up as I could. Very clear viewing night despite the full moon, urban light contamination and a few small cloud wisps.

Took less than a minute to catch a beauty! Strong solid orange streaker that ran directly overhead from south to north. I could actually watch it travel. I ran a quick replay in my head and figured it must have been a good two seconds or more. Cool!

 

[dlgoff]

Awesome. Never knew one could see meteor showers that far back into the past.