Talk about timing. Tomorrow, Saturday August 12th, is National Miss An Astronomical Event Because of Shitty Conditions Again Day. Yes indeed, it’s the day (or rather the night) where you plan on trying to see something cool going on above our heads, but can’t because the clouds (that have been gone for weeks) rolled back in, or it’s a freaking full moon that puts out too much glare to see faint objects, and so on.
In a stunning turn of coincidence, tomorrow is also the peak night of the Perseids meteor shower, so you have a perfect opportunity to celebrate this holiday. Make your plans to be out late for hours Saturday night, someplace with a nice view of the sky far from city lights, and who knows? Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get rained out. You might be skeptical that things can turn out this way, but I can tell you from experience, this has happened to me more often than not. It is, in fact, statistically proven to bring in rain during droughts, and even if clear skies and a lack of moonlight seem destined to ruin the holiday, meteor showers are virtually guaranteed to perform dismally the more prepared you are for a show. What makes it even better is how many photos from other photographers you will see afterward that utterly missed out on the holiday, and got great shots because of it. It’s shameless, I know, but feel free to gloat a little when it happens.
If, by some miraculous chance, you miss out on this holiday yourself, there’s always the total solar eclipse coming up on the 21st where you’ll have another opportunity to observe this holiday (and nothing else.) So don’t feel bad if you get a fantastic show tomorrow – there will be other events to miss.
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