Geminids Light Up The December Sky!

Last night was one of those rare nights when the New England weather cooperates with a celestial show and rewards those who brave the elements with a rare treat. With a good forecast in hand, a moonless night, and the promise of a strong Geminid meteor show, Ray, Dan, and I traveled up to Arunah Hill. Relatively mild December weather has left our road in pretty good shape. I knew it was going to be a good night when I pulled out of my driveway, clicked on the car radio, and caught a great Terri Gross musical interview with jazz legend John Pizzarelli. An hour later I arrived on the hill, where Dan already had Jupiter in the crosshairs of his wonderful refractor. Io was just beginning at transit. The Jupiter moons were little orbs under high power, not mere pinpoints. A memorable site! Soon I had a roaring fire going in the wood stove, and the hut was soon toasty. I was then able to settle in to my "Gravity Chair" for a great night of observing. By 8 PM we were seeing meteors every couple of minutes, some spectacular slow motion fireballs, many faint and fleeting. By 9 PM the rate had picked up a bit as the radiant rose well up in the northeast. The meteors often came in bursts of 2 or 3, seconds apart, in nearly the same path. Lots of dim fire specs seemed to rain out of Orion's belt, onto Lepus to its south. Many also seemed to plow westward, low through the big dipper, partly obscured by the stand of beech trees behind the telescope shed. The best ones all seemed to buzz Jupiter and pass nearly overhead, seeming to take aim at downtown Pittsfield and Albany over the horizon. As usual, during the lulls in viewing, Ray, Dan, and I covered lots of topics, from local politics to disc golf course land use to astrophysics. By 10 PM the cold seemed to be winning out, and Dan and I packed up and headed home, despite the wonderful sky show overhead. Ray was going to hang in for another hour or so, alone with the deer and the coyotes …and the dazzling fiery show overhead.