Witnessing Geminids: Slower Meteor Shower Speed

[Jonathan Scott]

Yesterday we had clear skies in the UK (but freezing temperatures) so I wrapped up warm and I went out into my back garden for a few minutes at about 9.45pm to look for Geminids, as I hadn't seen those before (I've mostly only seen Perseids before, plus odd sporadic meteors). The sky was quite hazy and I only saw about 7 before I decided to come in, but what I immediately noticed was that they appeared to move noticeably more slowly across the sky than Perseids, although not as slowly as half speed. Checking in Wikipedia afterwards I see that the speed of Geminids at around 35km/s is indeed slower than Perseids at around 58km/s. So now I've learned that there's a visible difference in the speed of meteors from different meteor showers.

 

[jedishrfu]

That's pretty cool, I never knew that. Thanks!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Time to grab a camera and snap some shots!

 

[Jonathan Scott]

From my back garden, in a built-up area with hazy brown skies and a limited view, close to an airport, my chances of taking a picture of a meteor aren't much better than my chances of photographing a flying reindeer!

 

[davenn]

Yesterday we had clear skies in the UK (but freezing temperatures) so I wrapped up warm and I went out into my back garden for a few minutes at about 9.45pm to look for Geminids, as I hadn't seen those before (I've mostly only seen Perseids before, plus odd sporadic meteors). The sky was quite hazy and I only saw about 7 before I decided to come in,

awesome ... well done :)

From my back garden, in a built-up area with hazy brown skies and a limited view, close to an airport, my chances of taking a picture of a meteor aren't much better than my chances of photographing a flying reindeer!

Yeah I know that feeling ... living within Sydney city suburbs, the light pollution is dreadful, I only get to see the brightest starts or meteors
I have to drive at least 30 - 45 minutes to get to a site that is dark enough to play with the telescope
Dave