Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Perseid Meteor Shower

Last weekend was the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. During this event, meteors supposedly appear at a rate of over 60 per hour! I know that the best viewing conditions are away from city lights, and even though I am usually in a well-lit area, I spend time outside each August hoping to catch a glimpse of a meteor. Year after year I am disappointed.

On Sunday night, Jacob and I were on the road traveling from Houston to Fort Collins. We knew that we would be in a perfect location for meteor spotting after the sunset - in rural, pitch black southern Colorado. We were heading north on I-25 from the New Mexico border towards Wyoming from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. As expected, there were few lights to be found, the sky was clear, and the stars were out. I was beyond excited that I would finally see some Perseids. Probably many. Maybe even one hundred. Our situation could not have been more ideal. I never thought that we would actually see one meteor every minute, but I was confident that we would most likely witness ten or more per hour. We carefully scanned the sky for 260 miles. Guess how many meteors we counted?

Zero.

I have no idea why I have such bad luck when it comes to meteor viewing, but if you ever want to enjoy a meteor shower, do not hang around me. I do hope that someday my luck will change and I will be fortunate enough to catch some Perseids because I sure was dismayed that I missed out on them again this year.

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