Geminids meteor shower

Last night and early this morning the 14th of December 2010 I again witnessed the Geminids meteor shower from the deck behind the pool in my back yard. The Geminids meteor shower is so named because it originates from the constellation of Gemini and is one of the most consistent and active of the meteor showers. The shower consist of particles of a meteor usually about the size of a grain of sand or smaller and burning up when hitting the earths atmosphere. One of the main reasons this shower is so consistent to view is the fact that the particles travel at approximately 22 miles/second which makes them easy to spot. Whats amazing is how a particle the size of a grain of sand can glow so bright so as to be seen by the naked eye these oh so many miles away! I'm only guessing but those I seen that last the longest just might have been closer to the size of a pea or most likely a piece of minus granite.

Now most news reports and weather men I heard were telling viewers to look towards the east, but we found looking towards the big dipper which from our vantage point is in the north east was the best. Using good peripheral vision while looking toward the north-northeast I seen shooting and falling stars as we call them anywhere from my far left (NNW) to my far right which was ESE. I went out about 10:15 pm and didn't see much so went to bed and got up at 1:00 am and ended up sitting until 2:20 or so and in that little more than an hour I seen between 30 and 40 meteorites. I would say the biggest and longest were in the north and were more falling stars than shooting and those seemed to last the longest, although I did see one from NE to the West shooting across like a rocket..............very cool. There was a point when looking due north I spotted one falling and within less that 10 seconds saw four more right in the same area one right after the other, and I think that is what most folks think their going to see when looking for the first time. The key like with most things in life is patience, just being patient and relaxing and in no hurry.

I would say living here in the west and the desert of Arizona we have a great advantage in viewing these sorts of things. Like I said earlier our desert nights are dark, pitch black as they would say and that makes for easy viewing. Another big factor is the weather, I'm out there tonight sitting in a lounge chair with my bath robe on and a pair of socks! Now I'm sure if my friends and family back in the Midwest tried that tonight they might be out long enough to maybe see one falling meteorite, and that's a maybe. Yep it makes a difference if the temperature is 60 degrees at 1:00 am here in Phoenix or -2 degrees like it was in Davenport, Iowa about the same time, or Des Monies at 5 degrees or Boston at 16 degrees!
Since moving out to the far north end of Phoenix, 20 miles from the city lights the viewing of things like this have been amazing. We're in an area with minimal lighting on streets and in yards and it can be very dark and black at night here in the north Phoenix desert, just perfect for this sort of activity. I do seem to remember last year I needed a coat and blanket, this year we're a bit warmer than normal so far, usually we'd be in the upper 40's or lower 50's this time of year.

From what I've read these showers are pretty much a fall and winter occurrence so we have a bit of a wait for the next viewing, and remember the Geminids comes each year so mark your calendars for 2011................you know I was so busy watching all these shooting and falling stars from here and there that I forgot to make a wish, think I'll go back out and see if I can see one more. And maybe I'll put a telescope on my wish list for next year.