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Geminid Meteor Shower
Inferno Intelligence writes: "spaceweather.com is reporting that there will be another meteor shower real soon. They are reporting that '[t]he shower [will] peak on Dec. 13th and 14th!' 'What are the Geminid meteors? Scientists aren't sure. Perhaps chips off an exotic asteroid or dust from an extinct comet.' After last months Leonid Shower, I won't miss this one!" Since I slept through the Leonids, I hope I don't miss this one, too.
If your average idiot american (both joe-six-pack and Congress/presidents) have their way, it'll only be a few more years before watching meteor showers from the ground is the only form of "exploration" they are budgeted for.
I don't like seeing all these "What's the point? It won't be as exciting as the Leonid" posts.
I went out for the Leonids last month and didn't quite see the cosmic fireworks that I'd prepared to expect, but it was still something that I'm entirely pleased I did.
I live in downtown Minneapolis, so stargazing is not a common pasttime in these parts. But I went out and sat down on my porch in my bathrobe and boxers at two-thirty in the morning, and just looked up for a half hour or so. I was lucky enough to not be blocked by clouds and I could situate myself so that no street-lights would kill my night vision.
It was magnificent. I saw five falling stars that night. It reminded me of standing in the middle of a field when I was younger in the northern Wisconsin woods-- at a certain point you stop thinking about the science of astronomy or really anything else, and you're just amazed at the vast dark-blue sky.
Is there much of anything out there that can give you that feeling, even now, when you're all grown up? I wish there was more.
If reading a post about a shower once a month on Slashdot will help me know when I can go sit on my porch again and get that feeling, I'm willing to put up with the repetition.