Abstract: A summary of the activity of the CAMS-BeNeLux network during the month of December 2023 is presented. This month we collected a total of 24353 meteors resulting in 3176 orbits.
Introduction
In December the Earth crosses dust of the Geminids, one of the highlights of meteor observing. Some nice minor showers are visible too. Combined with high sporadic activity this is a very attractive month for all meteor observers.
After the disappointing month of November, we hoped for better circumstances this month.
December 2024 statistics
December 2024 was, like last year, a somber month. Only a handful of complete clear nights occurred in large parts of the BeNeLux, France, Engeland, Germany and Denmark. And although the number of cameras and stations increased significantly compared with December months in the past, we have captured only 3176 orbits, resulting from 24353 recorded meteors.
In 8 nights, we could capture no orbit at all, and there were only a small number of nights in which we could collect more than 200 orbits. So, a meager result this year. See Figure 1 and Table 1.
Figure 1 – Comparing December 2024 to previous months of December in the CAMS-BeNeLux history. The blue bars represent the number of orbits, the red bars the maximum number of cameras capturing in a single night, the green bars the average number of cameras capturing per night and the yellow bars the minimum number of cameras.
Table 1 – Number of orbits and active cameras in CAMS-BeNeLux during the month of December in the period 2012–2024.
| Year | Nights | Orbits | Stations | Max. Cams | Min. Cams | Mean Cams |
| 2012 | 12 | 117 | 6 | 7 | – | 2.4 |
| 2013 | 23 | 1053 | 10 | 25 | – | 15.7 |
| 2014 | 19 | 1540 | 14 | 37 | – | 25.8 |
| 2015 | 27 | 1589 | 15 | 49 | 8 | 33.8 |
| 2016 | 25 | 3492 | 21 | 58 | 25 | 48.3 |
| 2017 | 25 | 2804 | 22 | 86 | 49 | 68.9 |
| 2018 | 23 | 4908 | 21 | 78 | 52 | 69.8 |
| 2019 | 28 | 4124 | 21 | 82 | 64 | 72.8 |
| 2020 | 24 | 2693 | 24 | 86 | 56 | 72.4 |
| 2021 | 25 | 3072 | 25 | 84 | 67 | 76.0 |
| 2022 | 27 | 7680 | 31 | 97 | 73 | 84.8 |
| 2023 | 27 | 2751 | 41 | 119 | 101 | 109.0 |
| 2024 | 23 | 3176 | 48 | 125 | 111 | 117.5 |
| Total | 308 | 38999 |
Around the Geminid maximum the central parts of the Netherlands got no sunshine at all for a period of 11 days in a row (December 9 – 19).
So, members from this stream could only be recorded by some stations in southern Belgium and Engeland, that had some clear nights in that time.
The highest number of orbits in one night was captured in December 26–27 and December 27–28, approximately 330 and 420 orbits each night. As said earlier, compared with December 2023, the number of stations, and consequently the number of active cameras, has increased significantly (see Figure 1).
This month, only 43% of all simultaneous meteors were captured by more than two stations. This confirms the bad weather this month.
On average, nearly 117 cameras at 49 stations were active during this month. Every night, at least 111 cameras captured meteors. The highest number of active cameras was 125 for a single night. These numbers are significantly higher than last year (Figure 1).
Unfortunately, the number of orbits was hampered by bad weather.
Conclusion
Results for December 2024 are, when compared to other years, only modest, although the number of cameras increased significantly.
Acknowledgment
Many thanks to all participants in the CAMS-BeNeLux network for their dedicated efforts. The CAMS-BeNeLux team was operated by the following volunteers during the month of December 2024:
Hans Betlem (Woold, Netherlands, Watec 3071, 3072, 3073, 3074, 3075, 3076, 3077 and 3078), Jean-Marie Biets (Engelmanshoven, Belgium, Watec 3180, 3181, 3182 and 3183), Ludger Boergerding (Holdorf, Germany, RMS 3801), Günther Boerjan (Assenede, Belgium, RMS 3823), Martin Breukers (Hengelo, Netherlands, Watec 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326 and 327, RMS 319, 328 and 329 ), Jean Brunet (Fontenay le Marmion, France, RMS 3911), Seppe Canonaco (Genk, RMS 3818 and 3819), Steve Carter (Welwyn Garden City, England, RMS 3706), Eduardo Fernandez del Peloso (Ludwigshafen, Germany, RMS 3805), Pierre de Ponthiere (Lesve, Belgium, RMS 3816 and 3826), Bart Dessoy (Zoersel, Belgium, Watec 805 and 806), Jürgen Dörr (Wiesbaden, Germany, RMS 3810, 3811 and 3812), Isabelle Ansseau, Jean-Paul Dumoulin, Dominique Guiot and Christian Wanlin (Grapfontaine, Belgium, Watec 814, 815, RMS 3817, 3843, 3844 and 3845), Miles Eddowes (Reading, England, RMS 3709), Uwe Glässner (Langenfeld, Germany, RMS 3800), Roel Gloudemans (Alphen aan de Rijn, Netherlands, RMS 3197), Luc Gobin (Mechelen, Belgium, Watec 3890, 3891, 3892, 3893 and 3894), Tioga Gulon (Nancy, France, RMS 3912), Tioga Gulon (Chassignolles, France, RMS 3910), Robert Haas (Alphen aan de Rijn, Netherlands, Watec 3160, 3161, 3163, 3164, 3165 and 3166), Robert Haas (Burlage, Germany, RMS 3803 and 3804), Kees Habraken (Kattendijke, Netherlands, RMS 3780, 3781, 3782 and 3783), Erwin Harkink (Elst, Netherlands, RMS 3191), Nick James (Chelmsford, England, RMS 3710), Carl Johannink (Gronau, Germany, Watec 3100, 3101, 3102), Reinhard Kühn (Flatzby, Germany, RMS 3802), Hervé Lamy (Dourbes, Belgium, Watec 394 and 395, RMS 3825, 3841, 3895, 3896, 3897 and 3898), Hervé Lamy (Humain, Belgium, RMS 3821 and 3828), Hervé Lamy (Ukkel, Belgium, Watec 393 and 817), Hartmut Leiting (Solingen, Germany, RMS 3806), Arnoud Leroy (Gretz-Armainvielliers, France, RMS 3909), Alan Maunder (Catherington, England, RMS 3707-3708), Horst Meyerdierks (Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Germany, RMS 3807), Koen Miskotte (Ermelo, Netherlands, Watec 3051, 3052, 3053 and 3054), Jamie Olver (Redhill, England, RMS 3705), Pierre-Yves Péchart (Hagnicourt, France, RMS 3902, 3903, 3904, 3905, 3906 and 3908), Tim Polfliet (Gent, Belgium, Watec 396, RMS 3820 and 3840, Holger Pedersen (Otterup, Denmark, RMS 3501), Tim Polfliet (Grimbergen, Belgium, RMS 3846), Steve Rau (Oostende, Belgium, RMS 3822), Paul and Adriana Roggemans (Mechelen, Belgium, RMS 3830, Watec 3832, 3833, 3834, 3835, 3836 and 3837), Jim Rowe (Eastbourne, England, RMS 3703), Nick Russell (Seaford, England, RMS 3704), Philippe Schaack (Roodt-sur-Syre, Luxemburg, RMS 3952), Romke Schievink (Bruchhausen Vilsen, Germany, RMS 3808 and 3809), Hans Schremmer (Niederkruechten, Germany, Watec 803), Rob Smeenk (Assen, Netherlands, RMS 3190 and 3196), Rob Smeenk (Kalenberg, Netherlands, RMS 3192, 3193, 3194 and 3195), Erwin van Ballegoij (Heesh, Netherlands Watec 3148 and 3149, RMS 3189), Andy Washington (Clapton, England, RMS 3702).
