Meteors will be zooming about in large numbers this coming week. Please, if you go out between midnight and during a meteor shower, wear a heat resistant head bone protector. A nice metal bucket will work well, or of course you could go for better coverage and just carry a large hunk of sheet metal over head as you walk outside. If you’re adventurous, you could also wear a pair of steel reinforced oven mitts and try to catch some as they come zooming toward you. And of course there’s the old silly trick of deflecting some of them with a specially made tennis racquet.
That’s right friends, the annual Perseid meteor shower time is here again, with the peak viewing on August 11 and 12 (according to the interweb science peoples). Of course, you can do some star gazing before and after those dates but the 11th and 12th are supposed to be the best. This may be the best meteor shower all year, because if you’re willing to stay up late you may see as many as 200 meteors per hour! The meteor shower happens every year around this time; but usually only about half this number are expected. It got its name from the constellation Perseus from whence the meteors appear to originate.
Hopefully The Weatherman and / or The Weatherwoman will cooperate and keep the sky free of clouds so we can all enjoy this summer spectacular. If you plan to stay up late enough to enjoy the show, try to situate yourself in an area where there are few city lights. If you can see all 7 stars in the Big Dipper then you should be able to see lots of meteors. Those who can’t escape the lights of the city will probably still see some shooting stars, but not nearly as many as those who enjoy a dark night sky.
All these meteors are from the Comet Swift-Tuttle’s tail. Earth passes through the comet’s debris field beginning around July 13 and finishes up around August 26; so you may see shooting stars well before the peak time; which varies a bit each year.
So, get a nice lawn chair; sit somewhere dark; look into the northeast sky, and enjoy the show. And again, don’t forget to have some fun with it all… have your Heat-Away Perseid Oven Mitts ready to catch one as it plummets to Earth. Wear your Captain Zognord Protective Meteor Helmet. Be ready with your Deluxe Vector Brand Cosmic Comet Dust Bonking Racquet.
And above all, don’t listen to any of my silliness about protective gear and racquets and such. Just enjoy the cool show please.
Now for the cartoon… anyone remember Space Ghost?