(meteorobs) Cosmic Humor

[Skywayinc at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/9/06 3:16:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
meteors at eclipse.net writes:

<< Doesn't it just figure, for the first time in years the weather is
 supposed to be beautiful here in the northeast US for the Perseids peak,
 and it will be 3 days after the bloody full moon.
 AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 <venting ended>
 
 Oh well, I'll try and see what I can :)
 
 Meteor Wayne
 
  >>

    Many of you in the Northeast US well know, how many years we've always 
had to deal locally with haze/clouds/rain/fog/thunderstorms, etc. whenever 
Perseid time rolled around.  It always seemed that we could never get a break from 
the weather so that we could get a nice clear look at this shower.

    Well, this year, (as Wayne noted), is going to be different . . . we're 
going to have a huge cell of high pressure descend over us from eastern Canada. 
 And by Saturday night, the upper air flow will be coming straight from 
Hudson Bay.  In short, this weekend the weather is going to be as good as it ever 
gets around here in August.

    And of course it comes in a year when we have to contend with that @#$% 
Moon! 

    I do remember, however, a Perseid shower that came under similar 
conditions back in 1968 -- two Metonic cycles ago.  We had some excellent weather 
during that shower as well, and I remember that the Perseids put on a pretty good 
show -- despite the bright moonlight.  Just now, I pulled out the November 
1968 S&T with the report about that year's Perseids (pp. 344-346).  Some of the 
comments from that year included: 

    "Overall the Perseid shower was richer than we expected with a brilliant 
Moon in the sky" and another who said, "Considering the moonlight, the shower 
was fairly good."  

    Estimates that year placed the ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) near 30.  I'll 
settle for that this weekend.

    One last thing . . . back in those days, S&T listed persons not 
specifically mentioned in the main article.  And among the 20 or 30 names cited, is a 
listing for somebody named "J.M.Rao, Bronx, N.Y." 

38 years sure went by quick, didn't it?    :(     

-- joe rao