Hot showers, cold showers, spring showers, baby showers, bridal showers, meteor showers. These all have their place, but I did not want to delay in blogging about the Perseid Meteor Shower, which is taking place even as we speak. If you're reading this in the daytime, don't bother to go look. But the meteors would be there if we could see them in the bright daylight.
I was an adult before I learned (taught myself) about meteors, and I have found them to be a fascinating natural wonder. Every year the earth passes through a dozen major meteor showers as it orbits the sun. And only a small portion of them ever become visible, because only upon entry into the earth's atmosphere do they begin to glow and burn up, a result of high-speed friction. It's a little hard to visualize what's happening, but think of a child running through a sprinkler. Only a small percentage of water drops actually hit the child, but he/she still gets a thorough shower. And no meteor shower typically has more meteors enter our airspace than the Perseid.
You'll hear and read from various media sources that you need to observe this shower between 2 and 5 a.m. tonight (Monday night/Tuesday morning). That's not entirely accurate. That IS the PEAK period, but a lesser number of meteors will be visible well before midnight. There is some degree of unpredictability, but Judy and I have never failed to see at least a few meteors any time we looked, even at 9 or 10 p.m. So don't despair just because you can't afford to lose sleep tonight. In fact, this shower lasts up to three days, the period it takes Earth to exit the "target zone." So even Tuesday evening, a sky-viewer is likely to have success.
Now, for some tips on viewing for the most enjoyment.
1. Select a spot with the greatest 360 view and the least interference of city or neighborhood lights. The darker it is, the more your eyes will catch.
2. You'll persevere longer if you set up a viewing area so you can lie flat on your back for at least several minutes. Folks that go out in the yard, tilt their head back, and wait a couple of minutes are going to get a stiff neck and tire of this quickly. But if you spread out a sleeping bag or quilt on the ground and lie down you'll be able to totally relax and enjoy the night air and peacefulness even when no meteors are falling.
3. Once in a comfortable position, you DO NOT need binoculars or a telescope. Those are for viewing stationary heavenly bodies (NO, not your neighbor). Your eyes are all you'll need. Lying on your back very still your eyes will pick up any motion with peripheral vision. So you can just stare straight up until your brain detects motion in some other portion of the sky. Likely, you will see some meteors so faint, you won't know for sure if you saw anything. Don't worry about that. There will be enough certain sightings for you to feel successful. We've seen over 100 on one occasion, but even seeing a few is rewarding, and some of them are breath-taking.
So treat yourself to this free and awe-inspiring spectacle. If you miss it, or it's cloudy, don't worry. These showers will be back. A google search will probably give you a lot more info and dates for the other showers, or e-mail me. They're really fun on a winter night, too.
I was an adult before I learned (taught myself) about meteors, and I have found them to be a fascinating natural wonder. Every year the earth passes through a dozen major meteor showers as it orbits the sun. And only a small portion of them ever become visible, because only upon entry into the earth's atmosphere do they begin to glow and burn up, a result of high-speed friction. It's a little hard to visualize what's happening, but think of a child running through a sprinkler. Only a small percentage of water drops actually hit the child, but he/she still gets a thorough shower. And no meteor shower typically has more meteors enter our airspace than the Perseid.
You'll hear and read from various media sources that you need to observe this shower between 2 and 5 a.m. tonight (Monday night/Tuesday morning). That's not entirely accurate. That IS the PEAK period, but a lesser number of meteors will be visible well before midnight. There is some degree of unpredictability, but Judy and I have never failed to see at least a few meteors any time we looked, even at 9 or 10 p.m. So don't despair just because you can't afford to lose sleep tonight. In fact, this shower lasts up to three days, the period it takes Earth to exit the "target zone." So even Tuesday evening, a sky-viewer is likely to have success.
Now, for some tips on viewing for the most enjoyment.
1. Select a spot with the greatest 360 view and the least interference of city or neighborhood lights. The darker it is, the more your eyes will catch.
2. You'll persevere longer if you set up a viewing area so you can lie flat on your back for at least several minutes. Folks that go out in the yard, tilt their head back, and wait a couple of minutes are going to get a stiff neck and tire of this quickly. But if you spread out a sleeping bag or quilt on the ground and lie down you'll be able to totally relax and enjoy the night air and peacefulness even when no meteors are falling.
3. Once in a comfortable position, you DO NOT need binoculars or a telescope. Those are for viewing stationary heavenly bodies (NO, not your neighbor). Your eyes are all you'll need. Lying on your back very still your eyes will pick up any motion with peripheral vision. So you can just stare straight up until your brain detects motion in some other portion of the sky. Likely, you will see some meteors so faint, you won't know for sure if you saw anything. Don't worry about that. There will be enough certain sightings for you to feel successful. We've seen over 100 on one occasion, but even seeing a few is rewarding, and some of them are breath-taking.
So treat yourself to this free and awe-inspiring spectacle. If you miss it, or it's cloudy, don't worry. These showers will be back. A google search will probably give you a lot more info and dates for the other showers, or e-mail me. They're really fun on a winter night, too.
1 comment:
Y'all have the best yard ever for watching meteor showers. I have great childhood memories of setting up camp in the field to stare at the sky! Thank you for that!
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