Geminids Again! :)

This is the first meteor shower I observed and I'm lucky that it was the best. The Geminids meteor shower has always been very promising. The Junior Philippine Physics society will be organizing a public observation for that event. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We will be open on the 13th and the 14th.

The annual Geminids meteor shower will reach its peak in the night of the 14th. The meteor shower will radiate (or appear to come from) the constellation Gemini. Normally, you would be able to see around 60 per hour during good sky conditions when Gemini is low, however when it is at the zenith (point directly above you) you will get to see (+=)100 meteors per hour.

Record the beginning and end times of each of your observing periods to the minute. For those enthusiast meteor observer, you can report your observation using the methods and report forms at the International Meteor Organization site, www.imo.net.

A Meteor Shower Observer's Poem

Here is a short poem from one of the first time observers of a meteor shower from the Junior Philippine Physics Society.

Unfortunately, his first viewing was met with cloudy weather. He was only able to see 5 meteors that night.


"A moonless night, No stars in sight
Waiting to see, a streak of light
A falling star, a meteor's light
Not once, not twice, but 5 tonight."
-Thomas Villegas

Silliman IYA2009 Group

Silliman University has organized a group that will handle IYA related activities. The group would allow students of Silliman (and hopefully including other schools) to participate and acheive awareness with regards to the International Year of Astronomy.

The group is to be under Junior Philippine Physics Society (JPPS) and is to be advised by Anatoly Karpov Buss. Although under the JPPS, the group is open to all students and orgs regardless of scholastic discipline.

If the activities turn out well, we would establish an Astronomical Society in Silliman. I have raised the suggestion to Raymund Ang of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) and he said that they are willing to be partners with the group.

I hope this will work out and be a success!
Clear skies!