We Saw a Bunch

A second night of Perseid watching gained us a gorgeous night sky and about 40 or so Perseids in just over an hour.  There were a fair number of very bright ones streaking across the sky — including several that were distinctly greenish and at least one that was very orange-yellow. Those colors are given off as metal atoms in the meteoroid are heated to glowing and light is emitted from oxygen, magnesium, nitrogen, and sodium that get excited as the meteor is heated by its passage through our atmosphere.

You can get kind of philosophical sitting out there watching the stars waiting for a random meteoroid from the shower to flash across the sky. You can’t rush the universe — it comes to you on its own terms. The meteoroids get here when they get here. The Earth turns only so fast — and luckily, the Moon wasn’t rising until after midnight, so we had a good darkish sky to ourselves. The stars aren’t going anywhere so they’re always there to watch. And, sadly, even the clouds can’t be directed away.  About midnight they started piling in from the west and we concluded our viewing session. But, 40 Perseids in just over an hour — can’t complain about that!

Did you miss the shower?  No worries — Spaceweather.com has a gorgeous gallery of shots from lucky Perseid watchers around the world. Go check ’em out!