Posted on 09/24/2021 3:52:12 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: This year an outburst of Perseid meteors surprised skywatchers. The reliable meteor shower's peak was predicted for the night of August 12/13. But persistent visual observers in North America were deluged with a startling Perseid shower outburst a day later, with reports of multiple meteors per minute and sometimes per second in the early hours of August 14. The shower radiant is high in a dark night sky in this composite image. It painstakingly registers the trails of 282 Perseids captured during the stunning outburst activity between 0650 UT (02:50am EDT) and 0900 UT (05:00am EDT) on August 14 from Westmeath Lookout, Ontario. Of course the annual Perseid meteor shower is associated with planet Earth's passage through dusty debris from periodic comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The 2021 outburst could have been caused by an unanticipated encounter with the Perseid Filament, a denser ribbon of dust inside the broader debris zone.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
I never get to see the Perseid shower here in southern AZ. It’s always cloudy that time of year.
Me wonders how they constructed this composite image with no star trails but so many meteors. Nevertheless, I remember the many nights me and my brother camped in the backyard on August 12/13, just looking up and seeing maybe one meteor every couple minutes or so.
A telescope with a clock drive aligned properly will keep the starfield steady. It compensates for the Earth’s rotation.
I’ve only seen them on the beach at Nag’s Head, NC.
They seemed to shoot across the sky for hours.
Link is mislabeled.
The camp where we slept for a couple weeks -- at the foot of Mauna Kea mountain -- has a remarkably clear atmosphere -- and just like you said -- meteor after meteor could be seen, maybe a hundred per hour under the pitch black sky.
But like every beautiful site on this Earth: after you've seen it for a while, it gets boring and no longer holds the charm it once did. Would love to see it again however.
At the top of the Mauna Kea mountain lies a few national observatories and international observatories — and it's the one place on Hawaii where it actually snows from time to time.
Observation: best to sleep at the foot of the mountain rather than the apex. As age creeps upon us, heights are not easily attained. Vertigo shows significant advances.
Difficult to envision Hawaii and snow, together.
REALIZATION: “Normal” life; will it ever return.
Find myself missing so much which would normally
be enjoyed on a yearly basis.
The Alaskan bears and the salmon streaming to
spawn.
Meteor showers, eclipses.
Time to stop and smell the roses.
Mountains are wonderful for viewing stars, since you’re almost sticking halfway into space. Not altitude-wise, but air-pressure wise.
Not being able to see human faces feels very odd. Yet in my work life, where I meet people (virtually) I’m actually getting more “face-time” than ever because of Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
I work at the University library often, and a few weeks back I struck up a conversation with one of the masked security guards there — and she was required to wear a mask (but not patrons like me). We had a few short conversations about cats, Asian food, etc.
Then she got hired for a good job and had to leave the library. In our last face-to-mask, I asked if she could take off her mask, briefly. And she did, and she had a charming face, and I told her so. Of course, I would have complimented her regardless of her appearance.
But thinking back, I don’t remember her face, but I DO remember the good conversations we had. So it’s kind of like the relationships we have with other FReepers.
But things are opening up here. Last weekend, University of Georgia had their first home game — and the stadium was almost full capacity with mostly mask-less fans.
Maybe 10% of students at UGA are still walking around with masks on (strangely, some even wear masks as they walk alone outside in the sunshine). But for the rest, it’s back to normal.
Of course, the local CITY library (Democrat-run) still has full mask lockdown — which is why I don’t bring my laptop to work there anymore.
Masks are kept in the glove box of our car - just in case.
Free to be me, with no facial covering. DH did buy a shotgun
this week - just in case. The entire neighborhood seems to be well prepared - just in case.
There is another element I find disturbing-they have programmed young kids to the point they obediently wear their masks even if they are all alone playing in a room. That makes me shudder. It reminds me too much of the way The Party in Orwell's 1984 gets people to the point they "think correctly" and by their own action, never even venture into "crimethink" or "wrongthink".
There is something obscene to me about covering one of the most beautiful things in the world with a mask...a genuine and warm human smile. We are MADE to see that.
* * *
Wonderful. And it’s especially true in a medical situation where people are fearful. Not being able to see a reassuring smile on the face of a doctor or nurse makes recovery or acceptance of fate all the harder.
Going back to your comment about the opening large picture of "meteors". Meteors don't radiate from a single point in the sky. They move in different directions.
This time-lapse photo seems to replicate the kind of sky I saw on the Big Island.
Beto O’Rourke wouldn’t last ten minutes in your Texas neighborhood if he comes to the homes to confiscate guns.
A side note: cosmetic firms might find face covering obnoxious as well. A woman, covering her face, is less likely to actually use the products. Why should she? Have yet to notice a lack of cosmetic ads.
Do believe SloJo is conditioning the population to resemble the fashion of Islamics. Cover everything or be stoned.
Woe to women drivers who must cover their eyes.
Due to the location near the Equator, and the high altitude which leads to lower temperatures and fewer thermal distortions of the atmosphere, the Mauna Kea observatories are cutting edge. The EU’s got a high altitude observatory in Chile for the same reason. S’cool.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.