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![]() Robert Dempster, a pilot who was flying from Kansas City, MO to White Plains, NY on December 13, had this to report from an altitude of 41,000 ft: "We departed Kansas City at around 10:00 pm local time (0400 UTC) and began noticing meteors right away. Neither one of us knew about the Geminids at the time. Flying at 41,000 feet, we both observed meteors at a rate of at least 1-2 a minute! It was quite spectacular to say the least! I wish we could have stayed up all night watching them. Unfortunately for those on the ground, clouds covered most of the eastern US, so they missed out on quite a show."
In California, star gazers were treated to a flurry of bright meteors between 0915 and 1030 UT. For much of that interval 2 to 3 meteors per minute were easily visible under dark skies. Like the 1998 Geminid meteors, the 1999 Geminids often came in bunches of 2 or more shooting stars. The average rate of over 100 meteors per hour in California declined after 1030 UT (230 PST) to approximately 70 per hour until dawn. The pleasing Geminid shower on Dec. 14, 1999, compensated U.S. observers for a disappointing Leonids show one month earlier. While the Leonid shower produced over 1500 meteors per hour over Europe and the Middle East on Nov. 14, only 25 to 30 Leonids per hour were seen in the skies over North America. "This year's Geminid shower was second only to the 1998 Leonid fireball display in my experience," said one west coast meteor watcher. "It was definitely worth being outside, despite the freezing weather!" With a radiant declination of +33 degrees, the Geminids are generally regarded as a northern meteor shower. Nevertheless, there was a noticeable display this year in the southern hemisphere. Ian W. Cooper saw 13 meteors per hour from a dark sky site in New Zealand. Several were brighter than first magnitude, and two left orange-colored smoke trails that lingered for 2 to 5 seconds. "This was by far the best session of Geminids that I have seen since the mid to late 1970's," reported Cooper. "Considering that the radiant point doesn't get much more than 10° above the horizon, it is surprising that the Geminids still come across as an impressive shower." If you missed the Geminids, or if they simply whetted your appetite for more meteor watching, another meteor shower called the Quadrantids is just around the corner. Stay tuned to Science@NASA for details. |
Web Links |
Leonids Live! -site of the live webcast of the 1999 Leonids North American Meteor Network - home page Related Stories: Perseids
Live! Balloon Flight Planned
-- Aug 6, 1999. A NASA weather balloon will ascend to the stratosphere
for a live webcast of the 1999 Perseids. |
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