Forums » Smalltalk » Geminids and visibility

I get really excited every year for the two major meteor showers visible from my location, the Perseids in the summertime and the Geminids, which are having their second peak tonight!

Unfortunately, for the last few years, visibility has been really bad every time something celestially cool has come around. (For example, tonight it’s been getting foggier and foggier as a winter rain shower rolls in.) I catch what I can, but it’s been a heck of a thing!

Are there events like this that you guys get excited for? Have you managed to catch any cool phenomena in the sky of late?

I haven't kept track of things like this much but it sure does sound neat. Stargazing is fun.

The last lunar eclipse caught my eye; when I know of one approaching, I like to stop and just watch for a few minutes, at least.

I love all things space related, but sadly I've yet to be able to see a meteor shower. I have however seen a couple lunar eclipses, and they always blow me away. I don't have a telescope any more, but my family and I watched the last lunar eclipse (a spellbinding super blue blood moon!) with our bare eyes, sitting in our driveway and eating chips as the Earth passed between the Moon and the Sun. It was a great experience. Supermoons are also a great opportunity to pull out the binoculars and observe our planet's companion, and as I mentioned already, the most recent supermoon was both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse! That won't happen again until 19 years from now, and I'm quite excited for it (and the regular supermoon coming next month). I do also enjoy stargazing in general, and I used to live in a great place to do it from home, but I've since moved to a major metropolitan area and now I'm lucky just to see a single full constellation.