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Geminids (GEM) 2002 ( S'pore) 
 Hit Counter

bulletParent Body (discovered in 1983)  - minor planet  3200 Phaethon ( a cross between a comet and an asteriod)
bulletRadiant Position:  RA 112.5, DEC +32.6 ( Close to Castor)
bulletVelocity : ~ 35 Km /s ( half of Leonids)
bulletZenith Hourly Rate : ~ 100( only a fraction of this for us)
bulletPeak at Dec 14 ( Saturday) 10 UT- local time 06pm ( radiant still below horizon)
bulletMoon sets  02hr 26 min
bulletBest viewing time -(see color coded box below)  high radiant and with  moon out of the way 
or if sky is clear. 
bulletTelescopic Gems -peak a day earlier. 
bulletWhere to look 
bulletpick the darkest /clearest portion of sky
bulletor faced north and look straight up with Gemini in FOV.
RESULT( Dec 14/15) -: Actual # seen ( video+visual sightings) on Dec 15/15 hightlite in yellow below.
Universal Time 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 - -
SGP Time* 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
# seen - - - - - 2 4 3+1(spo) 1 - rain? - - -
Radiant 
Height (d)		 - - -16 - 3.0 +9.7 +22 +34 +45 +55 +60 +57.7 +52.8 +42 -
Moon Elev(d) - - - - - - +62.5 - +17

Moon-free viewing

  Go get      some sleep !

* Singapore time =UT +8 hrs 
Looking East  Dec 14 23:30pm - the Bulls eye mark the Gem radiant - a short distance from mag +1.58 star Castor-Pollux pair.  White streaks simulated the Geminids appearance. Grids are elevation and azimuth in degrees.
1) Limiting Magnitude Determination ( how dark your sky is) a) Using Chart 4a  - simply count the no. of stars visible bounded in the region ( pick any of the #4 ,#17 ,#8 ,#22)
b) Obtain the corresponding LM from the conversion table 
2) Tips  - head for a darker site in neighboring  country 
 - watch a day earlier - after mid night Friday - Sat Dawn, just in case Sat/Sunday weather turns bad..
3) Things you could do  - Point a camcorder - say centre on Orion on tripod.  Select the lowest shutter and LP recording.   

[ 2008 ] [ Singapore Flora and Fauna ] [ Fiji_NZ 2001 ] [ Leonids 1999 Jordan ] [ Iran2000 ] [ Leonids 2001 Korea ] [ Leonids '02 - Singapore ] [ Geminids 2001 ] [ Gems '02 ] [ VideoStack ] [ 2003 ] [ 2004 ] [ 2005 ] [ Expt ] [ 2006 ] [ 20078 ]