Xmas Comet & Meteors

[Prerylyon]

I imagine many hunters enjoy looking up into the night sky on a clear nite.

I've always been something of an amateur astronomer.

Right now, if you live outside of town, or have dark skies, you can catch the Geminid meteor shower. Find Orion and look to the side of it to find Gemini. The meteors will tend to originate from that spot in the sky. I just went out and saw a few.

Not far from Orion, is a star cluster called the Pleiades. Just below it, if you have really good eyes, and dark skies, you will find comet Wirtanen tonite. It will look like a very faint smudge to the naked eye. I had no trouble finding it with my hunting binoculars; it looked like a glowing cottonball.

Google 'Geminids' and 'Wirtanen' to get sky maps to help.

[emoji292][emoji293]

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[dirtclod Az.]

Always up for a good show.Had the whole Fam Damily out in the cold.Saw nothing this time.City installed LED lights down our main road.Not great for star gazing.

 

[Prerylyon]

We had freezing fog Thurs nite here; Thurs-Fri was supposed to be the peak, I believe, so I missed that. I stayed up til midnite freezing my arse off last night-crystal clear-and saw a few. The best times they say are like 2am to an hour before dawn.

The comet was easy to spot in my Leupold McKinleys; but it is a very faint one; never say never, but in all likelihood it will not flare up like Hale-Bop or Hyakatuke did 20 yrs or so ago. I think tmrw night is closest approach for the comet. If you have a camera and telescope to get long exposure shots, it will show a tail. More serious guys are posting some nice shots of it, just look online.

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[hunter25]

I have a 45 minute drive to work in the dark at 2am every morning. Seen quite a few the last couple days.

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[Bonecollector]

saw a meteor shower this past November while driving back to Ohio from WY. It appears to be very close and we saw debris falling to the ground. Very cool experience!

 

[Prerylyon]

It is really cool when you see something unusual like that. Back in the late 90s, we were living in Maryland; about once a month we'd make the trek on Friday nights after work to my inlaws in the Laurel highlands of PA just west of Altoona, PA.

Anyhow, I remember my wife driving up US220, I was taking a break in the passenger seat, we were about 30 min south of Altoona, PA when I saw a fireball meteor. My eyes happened to be focused at just the right spot in the sky and you could literally see the flames shooting out of the meteor as it disintegrated on reentry. The colors were bluish green with some orange. It was one of those once in a lifetime sights you never forget. [emoji89]

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[kidoggy]

I ain't never seed a comet but once saw a donner and a cupid getting blitzed!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Nope that was me driving my Dodge with a Beer in my lap.