Gem Of A Geminids

This image is a composite of ten separate meteor streaks. The event was the peak of the Geminids meteor shower  on the night of Thursday, December 13--Friday, December 14, 2012. The first capture (the brightest and longest streak at right center) occurred at 11:13 PM, December 13 and the last around 12:10 AM on December 14. This meteor shower was the most active I have personally witnessed in several years as I counted about 17 very bright meteors and many more dim ones in an hour's time. The temperature this night for this time of year was ideal--around 30 degrees F. Then image looks east from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Each exposure was 27 seconds at f/3.5, 400 ISO and 18mm focal length. The radiant for the meteors is seen at top--the constellation Gemini. A portion of Orion is at upper right and the -1.47 magnitude star Sirius is at lower right. Unfortunately for me, the best meteor of the night began from just left of the tree and moved left (north), a long-track very bright streak.