What’s your sign?

I’m old enough to remember when that was a big factor in dating, though not quite old enough to have used it in such a manner. But in this case, it’s only in reference to two meteor showers due to peak in a few days, the southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids, both coming in right before the end of the month, which means anytime from this point on. Unfortunately, there’s read more

Utterly robbed


My calendar has been reminding me of the Geminids meteor shower for the past week or so, which was due to peak overnight last night, but the temperatures have dropped significantly for the past week as well. Since the Geminids are touted to be one of the better showers and we had nice clear skies, I finally got motivated to bundle up, go out, and try.

And indeed, it was a notably active shower, more read more

Not a mighty roar


Well, it’s the Leonids meteor shower again, or at least the time for it, and since the skies looked pretty clear when I checked, I did a quick trip down to the lake to see what I could capture. However, once I got down there, the clouds rolling in were quite evident, especially well to the southwest as seen here. Still, the skies above were clear, and I re-aimed for a wider read more

Pfeh

So not only did I get out to view the ‘peak’ of the Leonids meteor shower on Thursday night/Friday morning, I returned on Friday night/Saturday morning for the predicted surge. Though you wouldn’t know it in the slightest – yeah, it was that bad. The first night was notably cold, dropping below freezing, which I realize doesn’t hold a candle to some northern weather read more

One of these days…

… I’ll feel justified in making this yearly post.

If you’re checking out that sidebar where it shows what posted around this date on previous years, you may notice a pattern: we’re coming up on the peak of the Leonids meteor shower, which may be visible all throughout November but reaches maximum activity on the 17th/18th. More or less, anyway – they’re read more

Showers predicted, if it’s clear

There are two meteor showers peaking soon, the Delta Aquarids and the Alpha Capricornids, though both are taking place as you read this and have been for several days now – they tend to spread out a bit. Notably, the moon will be new on the 28th and is plenty dark now unless you’re up at like 4 AM, even then being a mere crescent, so provided the skies are clear in your area, the moon read more

Define, “success”


I did indeed get out early this morning to chase the Tau Herculids meteor shower, and I have to admit it was one of the better nights for it. Initially, scattered clouds obscured small portions of the sky as glimpsed above, but they cleared within the first half-hour of observing, while the temperature remained a lovely 20°c with a light breeze eventually stirring. The humidity read more

I can guarantee one thing

So, it appears there could be a surprise meteor shower on the morning of the 31st. Well, not exactly a surprise, but one that isn’t recognized as a significant shower and hasn’t been a performer in the past.

Universe Today has all the details, but in read more

Not as efficient

So after the lightning images last night, I went out into the backyard a couple hours later and noticed that the moon was quite bright and clear – the clouds had vanished entirely. The peak of the Eta Aquariids had been the previous night, but the ‘storm’ really lasts for a couple read more

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