Friday, July 29, 2011

Meteor Shower

For the past several nights Lou Ann & I have been scanning the night sky, looking for shooting stars. Ocracoke is a great place to see these heavenly displays. There is much less light pollution than in metropolitan areas with street lights and twenty-four hour illumination. This is especially true out on the beach, away from the village.

Wednesday night at about 10:30 we were simply sitting on the porch swing, with only a small patch of sky visible, when an especially bright meteor streaked across the sky below the North Star. Just before it burned out it flashed even brighter than earlier. Then, in an instant, it was gone.

We walked out into the yard, and with necks craned back, gazed up, hoping to see more shooting stars. We saw one more, but it was getting late, so we headed inside.

Saturday, August 13, is the height of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. Unfortunately, that is also the time of the full moon. But keep looking up into the night sky. The number of shooting stars will be increasing as August 13 nears.

You can read more here: http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors.

Out latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Lou Ann's story of the Night Blooming Cereus Cactus. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news072111.htm.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:39 AM

    I can picture you and Lou Ann leaning way back, searching the sky for any bright meteors.

    If you have a sore neck this a.m., try some Ben Gay, or a massage! Just saying....

    Enjoying the O.I. news as only you can tell it, Philip!

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  2. Anonymous8:59 AM

    HiPhilip. I would like to ask about the baseball field idea that you posted a few months ago. Have you heard anything about progress on this idea for the Island?

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  3. I understand that several avenues are being pursued re. a baseball field. I will post a blog entry when I have a better idea about what might happen.

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