The Perseids

Tonight.

Now.

Don't miss it.

16 and counting.

giles
best show in town.....free.....what could be better?

On Aug 12, 10:37*pm, Giles wrote:
Tonight.

Now.

Don't miss it.

16 and counting.

giles
best show in town.....free.....what could be better?

Just moments ago, at 10:58, a bright meteor left an incandescent trail
that lasted for nearly a whole second. Meanwhile, with all the lights
off, small unidentifiedbugs of some kind litter the screen as I type.
Perhaps a new species......well, not "new" but you know what I mean.

Whatta world!

giles
more coffee!

On Aug 12, 10:37*pm, Giles wrote:
Tonight.

Now.

Don't miss it.

16 and counting.

giles
best show in town.....free.....what could be better?

So, I'm sitting on the deck at the tree farm, watching for meteors,
and I'm constantly distracted by flashes of light in the north.....not
quite due north but pretty close......about 350 or so degrees as far
as I can tell. What the hell? Headlights on the freeway? I don't
think so.....clear skies. Meteors? Nah, doesn't make any sense to
see flashes emanating from far beyond the horizon and never see the
perpetrators themselves. So?

So, check NOAA. NOAA says thunderstorms up around Rice
Lake......roughly 119 miles away, just west of due north.

DAMN!

A****INMAZING!

Meanwhile, one clearly identifiable caddis* and many smaller
unidentifiable bugs cavort on the computer screen in an otherwise
unlighted room.

Whattaworld!!!

giles
*size 18/20.....no further information.

On Aug 12, 11:34*pm, Giles wrote:
On Aug 12, 10:37*pm, Giles wrote:

Tonight.

Now.

Don't miss it.

16 and counting.

giles
best show in town.....free.....what could be better?

So, I'm sitting on the deck at the tree farm, watching for meteors,
and I'm constantly distracted by flashes of light in the north.....not
quite due north but pretty close......about 350 or so degrees as far
as I can tell. *What the hell? *Headlights on the freeway? *I don't
think so.....clear skies. *Meteors? *Nah, doesn't make any sense to
see flashes emanating from far beyond the horizon and never see the
perpetrators themselves. *So?

So, check NOAA. *NOAA says thunderstorms up around Rice
Lake......roughly 119 miles away, just west of due north.

DAMN!

A****INMAZING!

Meanwhile, one clearly identifiable caddis* and many smaller
unidentifiable bugs cavort on the computer screen in an otherwise
unlighted room.

Whattaworld!!!

giles
*size 18/20.....no further information.

Watched a storm a couple of months ago that was close to 190 miles
away.
And yes, I saw a couple of meteors last night. Very cool. Would have
liked to have been on the deck at the tree farm to watch. I could
have fished this morning after the rains let up.
Frank Reid

On Aug 12, 9:37*pm, Giles wrote:
Tonight.

I admit to laziness this year. It's been a long week and I was tired.
Plus quite a few clouds in the sky and forecasted to be so through the
night. I've seen some good meteor showers in past years, and some that
fizzled, but just didn't have the energy to check them out this year.
I hope whoever made the effort was rewarded.

Jon.

On Aug 13, 11:41*am, Jonathan Cook wrote:
On Aug 12, 9:37*pm, Giles wrote:

Tonight.

I admit to laziness this year. It's been a long week and I was tired.
Plus quite a few clouds in the sky and forecasted to be so through the
night. I've seen some good meteor showers in past years, and some that
fizzled, but just didn't have the energy to check them out this year.
I hope whoever made the effort was rewarded.

Jon.

Wasn't much of a show this time around. A couple dozen over the
course of two hours or more was all I saw. I've had better nights
unassociated with any of the perennial showers I'm familiar with.
Still, a night out under the stars is never time ill spent.

giles

On Aug 13, 10:14*am, Giles wrote:
On Aug 13, 11:41*am, Jonathan Cook wrote:

On Aug 12, 9:37*pm, Giles wrote:

Tonight.

I admit to laziness this year. It's been a long week and I was tired.
Plus quite a few clouds in the sky and forecasted to be so through the
night. I've seen some good meteor showers in past years, and some that
fizzled, but just didn't have the energy to check them out this year.
I hope whoever made the effort was rewarded.

Jon.

Wasn't much of a show this time around. *A couple dozen over the
course of two hours or more was all I saw. *I've had better nights
unassociated with any of the perennial showers I'm familiar with.
Still, a night out under the stars is never time ill spent.

giles

Went out myself about 11pm pacific time. It had been mildly overcast
but was reasonably clear. didn't see squat but heard deer moving
around me, . . . gobbling up the dead fall apples. A good break
outside on a cool clear night. Need to get out of Dodge and FISH.

Dave

On Aug 13, 3:51*pm, DaveS wrote:


Went out myself about 11pm pacific time. It had been mildly overcast
but was reasonably clear. didn't see squat but heard deer moving
around me, . . . *gobbling up the dead fall apples.

Apples have been dropping early here......"wild" apples anyway. Kind
of tough to determine what qualifies as "wild' though. Pretty much
all of Larry's 80ish acres were pasture when he aquired the property
20 or so years ago. Apples, sumac, autumn olive, buckthorn, cherry
(various species) maples (various species), plums, birch, aspen
(various species), and a host of others have sprung up in the
meantime. Pretty difficult to sort them all out, particularly since
it's been by far the warmest and wettest summer in living memory in
this part of the world (well, in MY memory, anyway.....and I am pretty
much living as far as I can tell). A year ago there were enough
walnuts, butternuts, hickories, hazelnuts and, especially, chestnuts
to distract one from paying much attention to what might be amiss in
the natural succession. This year.....well, things have changed.

A good break
outside on a cool clear night. Need to get out of Dodge and FISH.

Hot as hell (and a great deal more humid, one suspects) here last
night. Woke up on the deck some time in the wee hours (not the least
bit chilly......MOST unusual) and stumbled into bed.

Dave

giles

Hi Giles,
Love your enthusiasm and thanks for sharing your enjoyment of it, can't help
but smile reading your post.

Rob.





"Giles" wrote in message
...
Tonight.

Now.

Don't miss it.

16 and counting.

giles
best show in town.....free.....what could be better?

On Aug 13, 10:55*pm, "Robert from Oz"
wrote:
Hi Giles,
Love your enthusiasm and thanks for sharing your enjoyment of it, can't help
but smile reading your post.

Rob.

Thanks for the kind words, Rob.

I've always found enthusiasm.....and amazement.....to be unavoidable
in observing the natural world. It's enough to make a boy tired
because it NEVER stops. For example, I read somewhere just recently
that there are vastly more species of animals than of plants on
earth. Huh? How can anybody live on this planet for half a century
or more and not know that?! For that matter, how does one go about
assessing the accuracy of the claim, especially considering that
perhaps as many of 90% of the species on the planet have yet to be
discovered/collected/described by science?

We're currently experiencing the hottest and wettest summer I can
recall here in southern Wisconsin. One consequence is that many
insects are out and about which would presumably remain hidden to
avoid dessication in most years. Consequences cascade; I think I've
discovered several new species myself.....just in the past three
days. But hell, how's a boy to know? Tiny things.....itty bitty
things that flit about, come to rest on an arm or a leg or a table top
for just long enough to attract attention, and then disappear.
Strange things. I saw a minuscule fly this morning (I assume it was a
dipteran due to overall body shape, wing position, stance, etc.), less
than 2 mm in length, with a bulbous bright ruby colored head.....or
maybe it was just the eyes.....can't be sure because it was too small,
too far away (two feet or so) and gone too quickly. Not a drosophila,
I think.....I've enough of those to have a pretty good idea. A day
and an evening on the deck yields hundreds (maybe thousands?) of
similar sightings.....who knows, can't even count them! A season of
such days and evenings and assiduous collecting would doubtless result
in coming up with things not covered anywhere in the scientific
literature.

However, I don't collect. No fame.....no fortune. Ah, well.

giles
if you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by.....i'll buy you a beer.