Geminids Meteor Shower

[DonnieC]

Anybody else suffer the cold this morning to see the event? It could not be described as spectacular in that I saw only the odd 3-4 larger, brighter meteorites but certainly more than 100 smaller, short lived ones.

The most spectacular sight was the brilliance of the planet Venus casting its reflection on the still waters Clachan Sound as it rose.

Two unusual observations were in the area of the Plough where an inbound high altitude jet 'crossed the path' of a satellite travelling from the NE in the company of a pair of small meteorites!

The second was in the area of Venus as the aircraft approached its bright light, the contrail started to appear and the whole thing took on the look of a fast moving comet complete with ever lengthening tail!

Other observations; apart from the minor orange glow around Cnoc A Challtuinn and on outside light at Clachan Seil there was no light pollution at all, save for some very annoying high Cirrus cloud in the north conditions were ideal. The sounds of the birds and animals were amazing.

Lastly, Seil never seems to sleep in that there are cars on the move ALL night, coming and going.

Anyway back to bed and await the weekend snow and cold.

There is a 'poor' lunar eclipse on 21 December for those interested!

DonnieC - Insomniac, not through choice

[smallpaws]

Stood outside in the mind-boggling freezing cold for about 10 minutes at 1.30am. Didn't see a thing. Thought 's*d this for a game of soldiers' and went back indoors.

[Nightstar]

earlier on in the evening, i saw an aircraft passing under a very bright venus and its trail was sparkling and took ages to dissappear, we both thought it was odd but didnt realise anything was going on - it was a crystal clear night - amazing

[DonnieC]

Smallpaws, It was a disappointing display and certainly not as predicted. The vast majority of the of shower was very faint and small. The longer you stayed out and became accustomed to the dark the easier it was to spot them, but, disappointing none the less.

Nightstar, If you were looking the previous night late or early in the morning then the planet you saw would have been Jupiter, near Orion. It is very bright but not as stricking as Venus which didn't appear until about 3'ish in the morning.

A very clear night/morning and cold -but nothing that Laphroaig and a hot cup of cocoa wouldn't sort!!

DonnieC - Patrick Moore in cognito.