Sunday, August 8, 2010

What say we shower together?

In all my years, I've never made an effort to view the Perseid meteor shower. And, as much as I think everything space related is either cool or fascinating, I've surprised myself by realizing that I've never made the effort.

This year, I will. Because it's supposed to be awesome:
This year's Perseid meteor shower is shaping up as a beaut. The big night is next Thursday, but anytime now is a great time for skywatching - not only to see shooting stars, but to see the planets as well.
The Perseids are among the year's best-known meteor showers, especially for mid-northern latitudes. Here's why: The show begins ramping up in late July and hits its peak around Aug. 12-13, when it's usually pleasant to hang around outdoors in the northern hemisphere. Perseid meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, which is high up in the sky at about 3:30 a.m. in northern latitudes - prime time for meteor watching.
(Tip: Born Again Redneck and his Naked Redneck Chicks)

Between now and Thursday, if I wake up at 3:00 AM -- and I might; when you get my age, you'll understand -- I'll step outside and take a gander at the sky. If I don't, I"ll set the alarm and look on Thursday night for the big show.

I've been wondering why I've never made the effort. Maybe I don't love space as much as I thought I did. But that can't be right.

The whole Tunguska Event is fascinating. As is the Chicxulub (or K-T) event.

Halley's Comet has held a fascination for me ever since I first heard of it -- which, I'm half-embarrassed to say, was when watching an episode of The Time Tunnel back in September 1966.

Of course, space travel has been a dream never realized for me. Not Star Trek stuff. Real spaceman stuff. I still remember watching Gemini and Apollo launches live on TV, wanting to be an astronaut when I grew up. Of course, I never became an astronaut. Maybe because I never grew up.

But, since I never went to space, I'm gonna take the time to watch some space come to us.

Before the week is out, I expect to see me a meteor shower. I already know I'm going to enjoy it. Join me, will you?

5 comments:

  1. I always try to get out and look every year, and it seems that most years here in Missouri, it ends up being overcast and cloudy through that week. But, maybe, just maybe, this year will be worth getting up to do more than my usual 3:00 am business too...

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  2. Weather Channel says it'll be clear skies tonight starting by 2:00 AM. Maybe I'll get lucky tonight.

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  3. I am not going to make it until Friday night/Saturday morning, but I shall see what we have then.

    Just so you know, in 1969, my family took a vacation to Daytona Beach, went on to Cape Kennedy and I actually have Polariods of Apollo 11 on the launching pad, going through a mock-up of the lunar landing module and the splash down capsule. Also, somewhere in my vast estate, there is a double LP called, "Man on the Moon," which is all of the communications with the Apollo 11. I guess if I were an aerospace engineer, it might be interesting...

    I still am stoked when I see our space capabilities that Obama is steadily dismantling. I did however read that Congress authorized one more shuttle flight.

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  4. I remember watching this when I was 10 or 11. Snuck out of my 2nd floor bedroom window onto the roof & watched.

    Now that I own my own roof, I still haven't managed to be on top of it at 3am.

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  5. I did manage to make it outside tonight. Not much of a payoff, though. Maybe tomorrow night.

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