08/11/2009

Tonight was the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Unfortunately the moon is gibbous and quite bright, and the city lights– including the streetlamp across from the house– make it difficult to see any. There were some scattered cirrus clouds as well.

Still, I turned off all the lights and went outside for a bit, hoping to catch at least one. I was rewarded after a few minutes as a bright one streaked across the zenith.

My best memory of meteors remains the time Thom and I were laying out in the desert somewhere in southern Utah, the Milky Way spread above us. I don’t remember what shower it was, but we saw a lot of shooting stars that night. There’s something magical about them.