August 12

Perceid Meteor Showers

I awakened this morning at 3:30 and saw through the bedroom window that the sky was crystal clear, perfect for viewing the Perceids.

Needing only a bathrobe, I tiptoed down to the sunroom, turned on the porch light to check for any bears, raccoons or skunks at the dooryard feeder, and looked once again to see that the sky overhead was clear.

Lights off, then to the porch to sit on the Adirondack chair, which was damp from a dew fall overnight.

Almost directly overhead, Cassiopeia sat in her throne, with the evanescence of the milky way barely visible against a sky slightly lit from the distant Holden lights. While I waited, small rustling sounds came from the direction of the lower woods, and the near constant white noise of cricket calls were in the background.

Then, a flash overhead, a small streak off to the east which started near the zenith and moved nearly 10 degrees across the sky. A minute later and another, followed quickly by two more.