Unlike all other meteor showers, which originate from comets, Geminids originate from asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Seeing a large number of meteors last night, I noticed they seemed to be much more green than other meteors, but is there anything else I should expect to see different to other meteor showers? Brightness, size, length of trail etc?
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Well done on your observations, I've been completely clouded out.
You are quite right, the Geminids are noted for a variety of colours, and a good number of fireballs, though most observers note a predominiance of yellow meteors This is partly due to their composition and density (coming from a peculiar "rock comet") and partly to their velocity (35km/s) which is fairly fast.
There is a good chance of seeing some good trails with this shower. Brighter meteors and most fireballs will leave a trail, and the Geminids have more of these than most other showers.
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1$\begingroup$ The night of the 12th was perfectly clear here, and about -2 degrees, so it was nice to sit out and watch. Round about 2 a minute for the first hour or so then maybe 3 or 4 a minute for the next hour. You say fast, but my perception was that they were slower and kept going a long distance. Quite a few greens. One travelled the entire length of Orion, from just off Castor down past Rigel, and then a big fireball at the end. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 14, 2015 at 19:13