Geminind Meteor Shower - December 13 & 14, 2012

Geminind Meteor Shower - December 13 & 14, 2012

Image Details

  • 1 hr stack of 1 second exposures
  • Custom Built All Sky Camera
  • Photoshop CS6
  • 12:30 AM - 1:30 AM MST, 12/14/2012
  • Mead, Colorado

Weather: cloudy -> clearing -> cloudy

The Geminid Meteor shower did not disappoint. At this location, the evening of December 13 started out with cloudy skies that cleared off around midnight. For about one hour, the sky remained clear with many meteors flashing across the sky; including bright fireballs. Then the skies clouded over again, closing the Geminid Meteor shower for 2012.

The image above is a 1 hour stack of continous video from 12:30 AM to 1:30 AM on December 14. 63 Geminids are captured. The Geminids can be identified through their trails which point back to the shower radiant in Gemini. As the radiant is moving during this composite, the meteor trails show that movement. In addition to the meteors seen here, 46 others were captured by the All Sky Camera making a total of 109 meteors for the night.

In addition to the meteors and star trails, the planet Jupiter can be seen as the the very bright trail in the center right of the image. Clouds can be seen in the northeast. The lights on the horizon are from nearby houses and street lights.