Perseids

Perseid Meteors – Day 1002

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Jupiter and Saturn taken minutes ago – Photo: L. Weikel

Perseid Meteors

Over the past few nights, the sky has been exquisitely clear in my neck of the woods, especially around midnight. In spite of conducive conditions, I’ve yet to catch a glimpse of any Perseid meteors streaking across the sky. I’m hopeful, though. Maybe tonight will be my lucky night.

Technically, the Perseids last until August 24th but they are at ‘maximum streaks per minute’ across the sky later this week.

Of course, as I looked up into the moonless sky last night, thinking about the Perseids and how happy I am when they arrive every year, I was distracted by a few other bright celestial objects calling out to me.

Jupiter & Saturn right now – w/horizon – Sky Guide app

Jupiter and Saturn

First and among the most prominent are Jupiter and Saturn.

Jupiter is pretty hard to miss in the Southeastern sky. It’s obvious why this massive planet is deemed to be a ‘benefic,’ or planet that brings good fortune to us when it makes aspects in our charts. Jupiter is the ‘biggest’ planet we can see with our naked eyes, the one that unexpectedly draws our eyes toward it and say, “What’s that?”

And once again, I must confess, I cannot gush enough about my Sky Guide astronomy app. I love how it tells me exactly what I’m looking at – and even shows me what’s going on below the horizon. The Milky Way dazzles on this app – and only makes me ache to see it again from a place with little vast stretches of open sky and little light pollution.

I was thinking about all of you last night as my heart kept opening wider and wider. I was on my back on top of a picnic table, entranced by the night sky and the accompanying cadence of crickets and katydids. The ethereal music the app creators added to the Sky Guide is truly a perfect accompaniment to cosmos-gazing.

Jupiter & Saturn – just minutes ago – Photo: L. Weikel

Shooting ‘Stars’

I’m almost always amply rewarded for my determination to celebrate our planet’s annual trek through space dust – a/k/a the Perseid Meteor Showers. My only worry is that it’ll be cloudy on Wednesday (11th) or Thursday (12th) night, when ideally they should be peaking.

Believe me, I know how hard it can be to drag yourself outside once you’ve settled in for the evening. But the magic inherent in drinking in the vastness of the visible universe borders on the indescribable, and I want all of you to remember to indulge if you are so inclined.

It seems to me that we so easily and so often forget our relative unimportance in the grand scheme of things. It’s essential, in my opinion, that we remind ourselves of that insignificance every once in a while, especially when we’re on the brink of trashing this beautiful blue planet and potentially rendering it uninhabitable.

Are we truly incapable of raising our game and actually becoming thoughtful stewards of this planet? I’d like to think we’re still redeemable, but my hope is dimming.

Another view of Jupiter & Saturn with a bit of the Milky Way; Sky Guide app!

(T-109)

Fair Warning – Day 978

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Stars – Photo: L. Weikel

Fair Warning

After writing 977 consecutive posts for public consumption, I notice a couple idiosyncracies about myself. For instance, I realize I just might have a few ‘go-to’ topics that consistently pique my interest. With this in mind, I consider it a service that I provide you with ‘fair warning’ this evening of the approach of an event that’s one of my favorite experiences of the summer – every summer.

The Perseids Are Coming

Yes! I’m a big fan of so-called ‘shooting stars.’ My favorites are the Perseids. And actually – technically – they’re here already. Even more accurately, the Earth started passing through the debris-filled tail of comet 109PSwift-Tuttle on July 14th and will continue to do so from now until August 24th.

The most active evenings for maximum oohs and aahs as we stare into the cosmos will be the nights of August 12th-13th. There’s a chance we could witness 100 ‘shooting stars’ per hour at the peak of the Perseids. And lucky for us, the moon will only be waxing at that time – so her brightness shouldn’t drown out our ability to catch them streaking across the sky.

My reason for writing about them tonight is two-fold: First, there’s a good chance you’ll see some (maybe one or two – possibly more) brilliant streaks across the sky if you look up tonight. And knowing when and where to look is a major factor to meeting success! Second, it’s helpful to cultivate a love of star-walking in the evening now. That way, by the time the most active evenings arrive, you’ll have a routine in place and be able to jump right in (or lay right down) to enjoy the show.

Personal Sweetness

The Perseids are also my favorite light show because they always peak on our son Karl’s birthday. Even before he was a glint in my eye, I knew these particular meteor showers would always hold special significance to me when I watched them from the beach of an island off the coast of the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia). I was only 18 then, but the magic of that entire experience will never leave my bones.

I see that I’ve waxed rhapsodic over my beloved Perseids for two years now (of course), here, here, and here. It’s doubtful I’ll ever stop writing about them and the effect they have on my sense of place in the Universe. Extolling the benefits of immersing ourselves in one-on-one encounters with the natural world feels like one of the best ways I can honor the memory of my son.

If you haven’t yet given yourself the experience of witnessing miniscule particles streaking through our atmosphere and creating fireballs of light that generate spontaneous gasps of delight, it’s time. There’s something both profoundly inspiring and humbling to realize tiny specks of dust can create huge fireballs blazing across the sky. Doesn’t it make you wonder even for a moment what we might be capable of creating?

It’s moments like these that have the potential to remain in our hearts long after the television shows, card games, and movies have long since faded into oblivion.

Practice. Get ready. They’ll be here in droves by mid-August.

Photo: travelandleisure.com

(T-134)

Orionid Bummer – Day 709

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Waxing Crescent Moon – 10/20/2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Orionid Bummer

I admit it; I dropped the ball this year. Tonight, starting right about now (just before midnight – or perhaps closer to 1:00 a.m) and extending into the wee hours of the morning, the Earth will be traveling through the dirtiest part of the tail of Halley’s Comet. That means that the greatest display of meteors created thusly will be visible at that rather inconvenient time  – and if I’d been thinking ahead, I would’ve mentioned them last night. As it is, I’m stuck with writing about my Orionid Bummer.

I’ve written about these beauties before. The reason why they’re called ‘Orionids’ is because they appear to be originating in the night sky from the constellation Orion. But, of course, that’s just an illusion, as they are actually teeny tiny little bits of debris – some as small as a grain of sand – impacting our atmosphere at such great speed that they burn up in a dramatic flair that actually lingers a bit due to their distinctive composition. Indeed, it’s the lingering flourescent effects that make the Orionids distinctive from the usually more numerous Perseids, in August, and Geminids in December.

Early Heads Up

Indeed, just so I don’t drop the ball again two months from now, I want to urge you all to mark your calendars for December 13-14, 2020. This is when the Geminids will be at their peak this year. And because the peak of the Geminids, like tonight’s Orionids, will be cascading through the atmosphere very close to a new moon, then our view of them should be spectacular. Assuming there’s no cloud cover, of course.

But all is not lost. Technically, we’ll be traveling through Halley’s Comet’s detritus until November 7th. So while we may not be privy to 20 per hour, which is the upper end of the number of meteors usually spotted at the height of the Orionids, we may very well spot a couple good ones fairly easily over the next few nights. If we’re patient. And if the weather holds.

And I have to say, even the temperature outside is conducive to hanging out and staring at the cosmos for an hour or two. OK. I’ll admit it; there’s no way I’ll be spread out on the ground looking up for that long, even though that’s what’s recommended by the articles I’ve read.

The only way I would lay outside tonight after 1:00 a.m. and watch the sky for a couple of hours is if I were in a sleeping bag and intending to permit myself to fall asleep in the process.

Honestly, as I sit here writing about it, I feel sad that I’m not choosing to grab a sleeping bag and do just that. The simplicity and connection to the Earth that it promises seems like a great thing opportunity, especially in the midst of all the human-generated chaos swirling around us.

Pre-Orionid Sunset, 10/20/2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Two Weeks From Tonight

Which reminds me. Two weeks from tonight, I doubt any of us will be thinking about laying outside and watching ‘shooting stars.’ I wonder what we’ll be experiencing.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been finding myself saturated with all of it. (Of course, I’m referring to politics and the crisis we’re facing as a country.) At this stage of the game, it’s essential for us to just stay the course and refrain from burning out. Do what we can in each moment and then consciously make an effort to slow ourselves down. After all, we don’t want to be like a piece of dust from Halley’s Comet, hitting the atmosphere at 148,000 miles an hour and flaring out.

We need to survive.

(T-402)

Bummed Out – Day 640

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Weird Clouds Lurking – Photo: L. Weikel

Bummed Out

I’m not having any luck seeing Perseids this year. I may go out again tonight after I post this, and there’s still tomorrow night, too. But it just feels like I’m being thwarted by high, thin clouds that are just opaque enough to prevent me from seeing any meteors. I’m bummed out about that.

We did get a good walk in tonight, though. At first I didn’t think we’d get in a longer one since there were flash flood warnings earlier in the day. We decided to risk it, though. Thank goodness the oppressive humidity lightened just enough as we did a long walkabout to make it bearable – and then the sky actually became entertaining.

August Beauty – Photo: L. Weikel

I’m finding myself sitting here writing to you about the clouds we were oohing and ah-ing over as we walked this evening. I’ve deleted most of what I wrote. It would probably serve us all more if I just shared the photos I took.

The sky wore many masks today. Sometimes only a minute or two would go by and the tone and tenor of the entire world above our heads transformed.

August Beauty One Minute Later – Photo: L. Weikel

While there was plenty of entertainment playing out in the sky, there was a part of me that was a bit melancholy and distracted.

I find myself still feeling that way now. Sadly, those emotions generally serve to stunt my inspiration.

So I’m just going to share with you the many faces of the sky this afternoon and this evening, and hope that inspiration gives me another look tomorrow.

Have a wonderful 13th day of August.

Stunning – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-471)

Skygazer – Day 638

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Skygazer

Yes, I know. Skygazer’s not technically a word, although I would argue it should be. Stargazer is a word, and it’s defined by dictionary.com (I’ll admit, not exactly the world’s premier lexicon, but it serves a purpose) as: 1. A person who stargazes, as an astronomer or astrologer. (Disregard that they used the word stargazes in the definition of stargazer. Ugh.) Beyond that egregiousness, this simplistic definition seems to be a resounding reason why skygazer as every bit as legitimate a word as stargazer.

As a surprise to no one, I’m sure, I think I am one.

First of all, I find the word stargazer to be far too restrictive in its parameters of what, exactly, is being gazed upon. I look at a lot more when I turn my gaze upward than just stars. Yes, I’m nit-picking. The definition above includes those who study astrology as stargazers. But astrology is primarily occupied with studying planets and other celestial bodies not technically stars.

As a skygazer, I not only look up to view stars and planets, the sun, the moon, etc. I also look up to observe a whole lot of space debris: dust, rocks, ice, chunks of all sorts of things whizzing through space and often, on a regular basis, encountering our atmosphere and creating a spectacle.

Reminders

I was reminded that skygazing has been something I ‘do’ (and have done for as long as I can remember) just today when I received a Facebook notification of a memory. It was from August 10th, 2010, and I’d posted that I was staring up into the heavens in order to glimpse colors dancing across the sky that were associated with solar flares. But that was only the most recent in a fairly frequent parade of such reminders.

Seeing this post of mine from ten years ago made me realize that I do tend to look up a lot. I also noticed that I’ve written a decent number of posts involving meteor showers, comets, eclipses, and other celestial phenomena that involve objects or events in the sky that have nothing to do with stars per se.

So it’s settled. Skygazer is a word, a noun; and I am one.

Perseids

All of which leads me to remind you that the Perseids meteor showers will be taking place over the next two evenings. Specifically, between 11:00 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) night and 1:00 a.m. Wednesday the space debris lighting up the sky should be at its peak. It’s possible, if the sky is clear and the conditions are otherwise favorable that we could see between 60 and 75 meteors an hour. This article is slightly more in-depth.

Speaking from experience, it’s best to find a place to skygaze that’s as far away from ambient light as possible. I didn’t realize it, but it can take our eyes a good 45 minutes to fully adjust to the dark. It’s also far more comfortable if you can either sit in a chair that you can recline in and have your head supported, or simply find a place to safely lay out on a blanket. It’s essential to give yourself the time and peaceful patience that will allow you to expand your gaze widely in order to drink in as much sky with your eyes as possible.

A crick in your neck is not conducive to fruitful, contemplative, serious skygazing.

Get Lucky

I’m hoping the weather will hold and tomorrow night I’ll have the opportunity to watch bits of dust skitter across or into the atmosphere leaving a trail of sparkling light. If you happen to know you’ll be asleep by 11:00 p.m., give yourself a chance to get lucky anyway. Take a walk in the early evening and keep your eyes skyward. There’s a chance you may see some very long-tailed meteors as they skip off the edge of our atmosphere (instead of plunging through it). Those apparently occur before the main show of meteors, emanating from the darkest part of the sky, take center stage.

In the midst of all that we’re enduring right now, there’s something wonderful and perhaps hopeful in witnessing a phenomenon that humans have been observing for thousands of years. There are a lot bigger plot lines out there than just ours.

I’m an incorrigible skygazer. Join me.

(T-473)

Behold the Delta Aquariids!   – Day 259

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Aquariids 2019 – Photo: abc7.com

Behold the Delta Aquariids!                                                          

I love learning about stuff. And until yesterday or the day before, I don’t think I’d ever heard of the Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower before.

I’ve been a devotee of the Perseids for decades and decades – pretty much all my life, to be honest.

Perseids or Aquariids?

I remember going down the cliff to the beach at the Cape, where the expansiveness of the sky was the greatest (notwithstanding Nauset’s “I-Love-You” light sweeping across the ocean and then across the scrub pines near the cottage). Yes, I remember the odd sensation of the sand of both the cliff and the beach feeling cool between my toes, even as I could dig them deeper to reach some residual warmth that had baked in a little below the surface.

But the Perseids usually peak in August (right around both Karls’ birthdays). It’s been a family ritual to jump into the car and drive about a mile from our house so we could lay out in a field to get the widest possible view of the entire sky. All my guys have indulged me in my delight at witnessing meteor showers and other astronomical events. They’re among my most treasured memories.

forbes.com

A Little More on the Aquariids

So I find it a little weird that I’ve never heard of the Delta Aquariids. They’ve been falling (meaning we’ve been passing through the debris of the MachHolz Comet) since approximately July 13thand will last until August 28th. The best opportunity to see the greatest number of ‘shooting stars’ (although obviously, technically, they are neither shooting nor stars – discuss), though, is tonight and probably tomorrow night, when there will be the most particles entering our atmosphere and the sky will be darker longer because it is a “new moon.”

And…Capricornids?!?

Apparently we’re in for ‘dueling’ meteor showers this year. If you follow the tail of each meteor you see, you can use your Sky Guide app to figure out where it originated. That’s one way to identify if it was one of the Aquariids, Capricornids, or Perseids.

I’m happy to report that I’ve already seen two gorgeous, surprisingly slow-moving arcs of light travel across the sky tonight. And there’s been an added lightning show taking place in the northern sky as well, which is a little off-putting, since there are no clouds in the sky.

My sightings this evening were actually quite a surprise. Everything I’ve read recently has recommended that you go outside and look up around midnight, so I was definitely looking up simply because I was outside!

One More Immersion Into the Night Sky

As soon as I publish this post, I’m going to go outside one more time to see what I can see.

As I’ve mentioned before in my various posts about eclipses and things, I adore witnessing natural phenomena.  And as I lay on my back staring up at the sky tonight, I felt that sense of being such a teeny, tiny part of a vast and virtually limitless Universe.

I am in awe.

So I strongly urge you to turn out all your outdoor lights right now and venture outside. Unless, of course, you’re reading this Monday morning, in which case set your alarm and go out this evening at around midnight. You’ll be glad you did!

(T-852)