Althouse: "All you need to do is stay away from street and house lights and look up anywhere in the sky."

December 12, 2009

"All you need to do is stay away from street and house lights and look up anywhere in the sky."

"It’s a fallacy that you need to point in one particular direction. Provided it is reasonably clear and dark, you should see about one meteor per minute."

Where will you go to watch the Geminids?

13 comments:

prairie wind said...: If I could, I'd go out to the Nebraska Sandhills. Beautifully dark out there. As it is, maybe I'll take the family out to Platte River State Park to watch...if it's going to be clear here.; 12/12/09, 11:22 AM
john said...: Assuming: 1 meteor/minute * 0.1 (odds that a particular meteor can be seen) * 0.25 (variablity in frequency,. ie, up to 4 minutes without a meteor occurring) * 0.25 (cloud, tree, building obstruction) * 0.5 (pouring hot chocolate instead of looking up)

= 0.313% chance that I will see one.

Odds are I'll be sleeping.; 12/12/09, 11:37 AM
Clyde said...: It seems to me that someone observing a winter meteor shower runs the risk of frostbite in much of the country, global warming or not. Here in Florida, not so much. I usually like to go out for the Leonids in November. Those Leonid meteor storms in 2001 and 2002 were awesome; I saw dozens of meteors, including one with a fireball sizzling across the horizon.; 12/12/09, 12:09 PM
Ken Mitchell said...: Basics for Meteor Watching 101

1. Go out of town, away from the city lights.

2. Don't stay up late to watch them; get up early. Because of the way the Earth moves in its orbit and spins on its axis, the sunrise "terminator" (line between night and day) is the "leading edge" of the Earth. You'll see far more meteors between midnight and dawn that you will between sunset and midnight.

3. The Gemenids didn't used to be much of a meteor shower, but recent years have been more and more impressive. This year is supposed to be even better than last year.; 12/12/09, 12:38 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Our family tradition is whisky and cigars for the Perseids. You cry out when you see one, and if someone else doesn't validate your sighting, everyone yells bullshit.

Keeping the count going accurately gets more challenging as the night goes on...and the whisky bottle gets emptier...; 12/12/09, 12:58 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: If it weren't so cold and likely to snow again this evening, I would just go out onto my back deck or maybe drive to the top of a lava flow bench that is about 10miles away for a 360 degree view.

We are in a rural area and there is very little background lighting. The stars are always quite dazzling because the air is clear and it is very very dark outside. Often in the early fall or late summer we will just sit outside with the lights off, cocktail in hand and be amazed at the sky.; 12/12/09, 12:59 PM
kentuckyliz said...: I just had a sudden darkening of my lappie screen, and my queen Softie came strolling out from behind the computer desk. I thought she might have chewed through the power cord. After careful inspection, it turns out that she stepped on the power switch to the surge protector strip.

She's a cuddle bunny who wants all my attention.

I am a computer genius. LOL; 12/12/09, 1:02 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I remember, as a child, looking up at the sky any night at any night and seeing shooting stars. The Milky Way was visible in a way that is nothing like the sky these days.; 12/12/09, 1:02 PM
kentuckyliz said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/12/09, 1:04 PM
kentuckyliz said...: DBQ--how embarrassing. Our avatars are wearing the same dress, pearls, and earrings!; 12/12/09, 1:05 PM
Elliott A said...: In the middle of Teton national Park it is so dark you cannot see your hands in front of your face. If clear, there is no better viewing spot in the contiguous 48. It is incredibly dark on St. john USVI also. Here at home it will be overcast, so no viewing possible. There is a place at the southern end of Sandbridge Beach which is a couple of miles away from the nearest lights which was wonderful for Halley's comet in 1986. Probably the best local spot here in Southeastern Virginia; 12/12/09, 1:08 PM
nelda said...: Here in desert of NW Arizona at 4200 ft elev., the night sky is always spectacular. The Milky Way is brilliant; needless to say, meteor showers are not to be missed; 12/12/09, 3:34 PM
Donna B. said...: I'd like to go to Nelda's house with Kentucky Liz's family.

It's cloudy and rainy here now. Dense fog is in the forecast.; 12/12/09, 4:54 PM