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Perseid Meteor Shower To Peak This Weekend

Krishna Dagli writes "This weekend provides one of the year's best opportunities to see some "shooting stars". The annual Perseid meteor display is expected to peak on Friday and Saturday night. Meteors are bits of dust or rock that plunge into the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, making bright streaks in the sky. It does not take a large object to produce a visible meteor — most are the size of a grain of sand or a small pebble."

118 comments

  1. They're not really meteors by WilliamSChips · · Score: 3, Funny

    They're the aliens, trying to establish contact but getting attacked by the USAF.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    1. Re:They're not really meteors by SGI-Batman · · Score: 1

      You also should learn that brain could be found it should be in your head, not between your legs.. stop annoying, ok ?

  2. Late Late Late by iced_773 · · Score: 5, Funny
    is expected to peak on Friday and Saturday night.

    Shoot, I missed most of it.
    1. Re:Late Late Late by eln · · Score: 4, Informative

      Really, what's the point of even posting this now? If people weren't aware of it, it's too late to do anything about it now. Personally, living in an urban area, I would have to travel an hour or more away just to get far enough out of the city to be able to see this thing, so maybe a post about it on, say, thursday night or friday afternoon would have been more helpful.

      I've seen the Perseid shower before, on Boy Scout trips as a youth, but watching it with my own son would be quite an experience. Oh well, this story at least reminded me of it, so maybe I'll be able to prepare to see it next year.

    2. Re:Late Late Late by plasmacutter · · Score: 2, Funny

      dont worry.. it'll be back in 133 years, which means the next time you'll be able to see it with your bionic eyes! @.@

      --
      VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
    3. Re:Late Late Late by BootNinja · · Score: 5, Informative

      Wrong. The perseids occur every august.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids. He can see them next year. I agree, though, it would've been nice to have a more timely reminder.

    4. Re:Late Late Late by plasmacutter · · Score: 2, Funny

      then why does TFA say the perseids come from the debris of a comet on a 133 year orbit? O.o

      so now it's not only late, but wrong too?

      ye gods!

      --
      VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
    5. Re:Late Late Late by bdp · · Score: 4, Informative

      The comet has a period of 133 years, but the Earth passes through the debris left by the comet every year.

    6. Re:Late Late Late by Firehed · · Score: 1

      Looks like the editors took your sig a bit too seriously.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    7. Re:Late Late Late by JPribe · · Score: 5, Informative

      Put it on your calendar for next year, there won't be any moon to contend with. I took the wife and my Canon 20d out...while I didn't get any good photos of streaking light (I have better luck with lightning,) we did see a few really good ones, but the moon rose about 10:30 and it was a waste after that. The moon is just past full, and was really, really bright tonight.

      --

      Why go fast when you can go anywhere? O|||||||O
    8. Re:Late Late Late by ricky-road-flats · · Score: 2, Informative
      Man, the lesson learned there is just not to rely on /. as a timely news source.

      This would have told you in plenty of time, for instance - I think it was there before the end of my work-day on Wednesday.

      Unfortuntately it's been way too cloudy here (NE England) to see anything, after 2 months of cloudless skies....

    9. Re:Late Late Late by Korin43 · · Score: 1

      So ironically enough, I was just outside and I noticed a couple of these, then I come inside and find out they have a Slashdot article about it..

    10. Re:Late Late Late by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 0

      Really, what's the point of even posting this now? If people weren't aware of it, it's too late to do anything about it now.

      Don't worry. For, you see, I know Superman.

      I can get him to fly real fast around the world, thus reversing time and bringing us back to a point before when this story should've been posted.

      --
      "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
    11. Re:Late Late Late by snafu109 · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other news, Halley's Comet is expected to pass by Earth sometime in 1986. It should be quite a sight!

    12. Re:Late Late Late by Golthar · · Score: 1

      Actually I saw it when I gazed out the window last night and I live in an urban setting.
      When you travel far enough you can see several per hour.

    13. Re:Late Late Late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I took the wife and my Canon 20d out..."

      I'm happy you didn't write: "I took my Canon 20d and the wife out..."

    14. Re:Late Late Late by Lars+T. · · Score: 1

      The story was posted a few minutes before sunrise here (Germany).

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    15. Re:Late Late Late by castrox · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is only peaking this weekend. It will be visible a great deal longer - till august 20th or something. So pack your bags...

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      Fight for your digital freedom, join the EFF *now*: http://www.eff.org/support/
    16. Re:Late Late Late by sharkman67 · · Score: 1

      Maybe too late for nightime viewing but not too late for Meteor Scatter. Anyone for a WSJT sched on the rocks?

    17. Re:Late Late Late by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Funny

      DUPE! This was posted on slashdot in 1997 and again in 2003.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    18. Re:Late Late Late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Late Late Late
      (Score:5, Funny)
      by iced_773 (857608) on Sunday August 13, @12:12AM (#15896977)

      is expected to peak on Friday and Saturday night.

      Shoot, I missed most of it.


      Don't worry. This will be re-posted next year.

    19. Re:Late Late Late by bhmit1 · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are also a few other good showers this year to catch. Both Orionids (Oct 21st) and Geminids (Dec 14th) are said to be decent without so much moon interference. Or just fill your calendar with a whole list. Now if I only knew a good place to drive to get away from the city lights. Any suggestions for those of us living in Northern VA?

    20. Re:Late Late Late by Trailwalker · · Score: 2, Informative
      Any suggestions for those of us living in Northern VA?

      a. Skyline Drive

      b. Blue Ridge Parkway

      c. move
    21. Re:Late Late Late by bhmit1 · · Score: 1

      Skyline drive is beautiful, I enjoy a day hike there whenever I can get away. But the road isn't always open after dusk and there are lots of trees and the occasional headlight that mess up a good picture. I was thinking more along the line of a battlefield or park in Manassas or Haymarket.

    22. Re:Late Late Late by samkass · · Score: 1

      The comet goes around the sun every 133 years.

      The Earth goes around the sun about once every year.

      --
      E pluribus unum
    23. Re:Late Late Late by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Or just fill your calendar with a whole list.

      And here we see a limitation of wiki's extension of the UNIX 'everything is plain, unstructured, text' philosophy. Does this list exist in iCalendar format somewhere so I can just subscribe to it?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    24. Re:Late Late Late by JPribe · · Score: 1

      There are days I get confused....

      --

      Why go fast when you can go anywhere? O|||||||O
    25. Re:Late Late Late by Baloo+Ursidae · · Score: 2, Informative

      Probably because peak visibility of that meteor shower happens between midnight and dawn Pacific time, so most of the country had plenty of time to pull it together and drive out for an all-nighter.

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      Help us build a better map!
    26. Re:Late Late Late by Yehooti · · Score: 1

      With your Canon 20d, once the moon came up, why didn't you just use the flash?

    27. Re:Late Late Late by JPribe · · Score: 1

      I really hope you are being facetious...if not, well, a flash won't help when I am doing 1-3 minute exposures of the night sky.

      --

      Why go fast when you can go anywhere? O|||||||O
    28. Re:Late Late Late by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      d. The Chesapeake Bay (or better yet, the Atlantic proper).

    29. Re:Late Late Late by andrewman327 · · Score: 1
      From TFA: "the best strategy [to see the shower] is to lie down and stare at as large a patch of sky as possible."


      If I lie down in my back yard I can barely see the dull orange glow of Philadelphia to the south. Strangely, no meteors! Or stars for that matter. I go to school in Washington DC and we had to do all of out observing for astronomy class on computers with simulation software. Too much of the world is bathed in constant light pollution. I miss living in the midwest.

      --
      Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
    30. Re:Late Late Late by Yehooti · · Score: 1

      Hoped that if noticed, it would be figured to be funny. Back as a kid in science class our teacher was telling us how to use a time exposure to photograph the stars. One kid brought down the house with such a statement, "Why use time exposure when you have a flash?".

  3. Erm.. by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 1, Informative

    Hello this is Slashdot. I don't think we really needed the 3rd grade scienst lesson.

    Plus you know it is sort of Sunday here in the UK, doesn't that make this news story rather useless to a large population of the readers (not to mention Americans who will be sleeping at 11pm - Guy trying to be funny. It's not funny that Slashdotters sit up late, save the joke).

    --
    I like muppets.
    1. Re:Erm.. by gadzook33 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't think we really needed the 3rd grade scienst lesson.

      but a spelling one would be nice.

    2. Re:Erm.. by TrippTDF · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hello this is Slashdot. I don't think we really needed the 3rd grade scienst lesson.

      Spelling, on the other hand...

  4. We dont like the Moon! by Gothmolly · · Score: 5, Informative

    This year's Perseid shower is a dud, due to a nearly full moon.

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
    1. Re:We dont like the Moon! by nrlightfoot · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't like the moon much either. I wish NASA would paint it black.

      --
      what sig?
    2. Re:We dont like the Moon! by Typingsux · · Score: 3, Informative

      The moons average albedo is .12. Just imagine if it didn't have the reflectivity of charcoal!

      --
      The above post is an editorial, the poster cannot and will not be held responsible for all or in part for it's contents
    3. Re:We dont like the Moon! by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      now that's just typical tax and spend Democrat talk. The ongoing Republican plan of blackening the atmosphere by burning the products of big energy corporations to make the moon look dark is so much cheaper. This is also the plan to counteract aging and cancer due to too much insolation.

  5. I sense... by wwiiol_toofless · · Score: 4, Funny

    A great disturbance in the Force. It was like a million voices crying out in unison, then suddenly silenced as millions of Dads finally attempted to use their $600 Costco telescopes, only to realize they had thrown out their manuals with the box...

    --
    the mods may say you posted flamebait, but to me it's a flame that warms my heart. rock on, brother! --chebucto
    1. Re:I sense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, man; fucking hilarious.

  6. Story formatting by mnemonic_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    I like the formatting of this story, especially the use of the anchor tag. Very refreshing.

    1. Re:Story formatting by netkid91 · · Score: 0
      --
      NO~, I read Slashdot because I think it's stupid.....
  7. Um... by Kawahee · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "This weekend provides one of the year's a href="http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns? id=dn9732&feedId=space_rss20">best opportunities to see some "shooting stars". The annual Perseid meteor display is expected to peak on Friday and Saturday night. ..."

    Aren't slashdot editor's meant to be able to understand HTML? Another prime example for my signature:

    --
    I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
  8. Too late by FlyByPC · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...looks like the posting's HTML got holed by one of the Perseids -- one of the tags got taken clean out!

    --
    Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
  9. Umm, HTML Tags? by Tokin84 · · Score: 1

    Perhaps a little ability to check tags before posting might be nice...?

    --
    Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. - Aldous Huxley
  10. I found a great science site... by dcapel · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    a href="goatse.us">Here it is.\a>

    (Ignore this after they fix the typo in the story ;)

    --
    DYWYPI?
    1. Re:I found a great science site... by plasmacutter · · Score: 1

      which is funnier!

      "you goatse'd my slashdot!"

      "you slashdotted my goatse!"

      --
      VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
  11. A new low in editing by Phat_Tony · · Score: 1, Funny

    I've got plenty of "<'s" if the editors need some. I'll sell 'em for cheap.

    --
    Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
    1. Re:A new low in editing by netkid91 · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm selling 's to compliment them!!!

      --
      NO~, I read Slashdot because I think it's stupid.....
    2. Re:A new low in editing by lullabud · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Editors? This is Slashdot. We don't need no stinking editors. Obviously.

    3. Re:A new low in editing by nacturation · · Score: 1

      You want some proportional fonts to go with that?

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    4. Re:A new low in editing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The word you're looking for is complement, unless you were making a lame attempt at humor.

  12. The View is Good from up high by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I camped on the summit of a 14,000ft peak last night. I've never seen so many shooting stars despite the full moon and the light pollution of a distant city. It was beautiful... also cold.

    1. Re:The View is Good from up high by istartedi · · Score: 1

      I camped on the summit of a 14,000ft peak last night. I've never seen so many shooting stars

      Are you sure those are shooting stars? If you're not well acclimated, funny things can happen as low as 10k. Speaking from experience here, although if you hiked up you probably did it slow enough. I had the rather interesting experience of driving up Mt. Evans in Colorado after spending less than a week in Denver, and my home alt. is less than 500 ft. There were no shooting stars as it was broad daylight, just a severe headache and fatigue, and a floater that stayed in my eye and gradually reabsorbed. YMMV. Some lucky people can probably go even higher and not notice anything.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    2. Re:The View is Good from up high by edunbar93 · · Score: 1

      It was beautiful... also cold.

      And hard to breathe, I would imagine? Oxygen is required for pilots flying above 10,000ft. At 14,000, your vision would be diminished due to hypoxia, and you probably didn't see nearly as many meteorites as you could have.

      --
      "No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
    3. Re:The View is Good from up high by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      I don't think the people of Cerro De Pasco would very much disagree with you.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  13. As slashdot says... by MattS423 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Well, you should have used the preview button!"

  14. Re:Your signature by Millenniumman · · Score: 1

    Tags are not comments, they're ment to help people search for topics. Write a comment or leave

    Well, the most common tags include "yes", "no", "fud", "notfud", "duh", and "maybe", so it appears the democratic process has pwned your opinion.

    --
    Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
  15. not good enough by aunaturelle · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I must say that for this article and its gross html errors to appear on the front page of a technology and information website is just not good enough. I think the editors need to have a cold hard stare in the mirror after this, Its not like this is a college run blog with only a few hundred readers, This is /. for crying out loud.

    --

    Australian natural skin care

  16. A Note to the Editors by lullabud · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs!

  17. Sucked this year by Locarius · · Score: 2, Informative

    I went out with my girlfriend tonight to take a look, but it pretty much sucked. I saw one blip and that was all. The moon was far too bright and made viewing impossible.

    1. Re:Sucked this year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I went out with my girlfriend tonight to take a look, but it pretty much sucked. I saw one blip and that was all. The moon was far too bright and made viewing impossible... .... So then the sucking and viewing, with multiple blips, started in ernest...

    2. Re:Sucked this year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you got a BJ out of it?

  18. Cool story and all..about testers? by TechGranny · · Score: 1
    Okay so I signed up to test the new comment system. I like it a lot, but I find that on my monitor that the threshold control box/.js/ajaxy whatever thing... Well its in the way.

    Could it be a rounded edge thing? It stands out like it is.It almost even *infringes*. It has potential but it could be better. WTF do i know? Nothing.
    And where should I post this? Paters journal?

    --
    Make the world better. Quit hating.
  19. Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by chromozone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My hometown of Peekskill New york got hit with a meteorite back in the 90's. It crashed through the back of an old junker car belonging to 17 year old girl. She was in tears. Turned out she got about 80,000 USD for the rock and the car. It was only known car to be hit. The car and meteorite went on display in Museum Of Natural History and other museums around the world. It was also filmed going across sky in Washington. Every year around this time I hope for my car to get hit. A view of meteor in sky before it hit is on this cool meteor site:

      http://fireball.meteorite.free.fr/index_en.html

    1. Re:Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by MichaelSmith · · Score: 0, Troll
      The smallest of the two pieces (178 g) goes through the window while the second (2,333 kg!) rebounds inside the room, breaking the lamp-shade, the mirror and finally stopping close to the 14 year old boy.

      This bit from your link had me confused until I realised it was a European comma, not an everybody else comma.

    2. Re:Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My hometown of Peekskill New york got hit ... Every year around this time I hope for my car to get hit.

      If I was ever in Peekskill for an extended period I would hope the meteorite would hit me.

    3. Re:Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by kfg · · Score: 2, Funny

      It was only known car to be hit.

      Well, Peekskill has a tradition of smashing up cars with rocks, don't it? :)

      If I had a meteor
      I'd hammer in the mornin'
      I'd hammer in the evenin'
      All over this car. . .

      Everybody!

      KFG

    4. Re:Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by avasol · · Score: 1

      I assume if your car does get hit and you cash out, you'll build a "jump-to-conclusions" prototype mat?

    5. Re:Meteorite Hit Three Blocks From Me Once by Awod · · Score: 1

      I can arrange that.. no metorite but I can assure you your car will be hit. ;)

  20. closing anchor tags by 56ker · · Score: 2, Informative

    As it seems closing tags is beyond people here is the correct link for those who can't be bothered going through the rigmarole of copy & paste.

    1. Re:closing anchor tags by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd mod you up but it's such a rigmarole to go through..

  21. Too bad it's cloudy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem with meteor showers is that it is always cloudy here when they happen. The only times it isn't cloudy its bloody cold (-35 C) and that isnt too much fun either. :( WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE CLOUDY TONIGHT.

  22. Not merely 3rd grade science... by jd · · Score: 0
    ...Inaccurate and incomplete 3rd grade science! :) Meteors can be particles of just about anything, and given that these are from the debris trail of a comet (Swift-Tuttle), they very probably are. It should also be noted that the distinction between meteors and meteorites is one of particle size, not composition, and since this is 3rd grade science it should be added that meteors are the smaller of the two.


    As noted, there is a full moon for this year's storm, so there's not a whole lot to see. Since the comet takes 150 years to complete an orbit, it would also seem to follow that there must be less debris in successive years until the comet sweeps by again, so you've missed all the really good showers until 2126 anyway. (Those with 500 year diaries may want to make a note of the date.)

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    1. Re:Not merely 3rd grade science... by bdp · · Score: 5, Informative
      It should also be noted that the distinction between meteors and meteorites is one of particle size, not composition, and since this is 3rd grade science it should be added that meteors are the smaller of the two.

      That's not true. The distinction between a meteor and a meteorite is that meteors do not fall all the way to the ground, and meteorites do.

      Since the comet takes 150 years to complete an orbit, it would also seem to follow that there must be less debris in successive years until the comet sweeps by again, so you've missed all the really good showers until 2126 anyway.

      This also isn't true. Stuff continues to move out there, so we don't pass through the exact same spot in the debris trail every year. How big the meteor shower is varies from year to year.

      I'll let somebody else point out that the orbit is 133 years, not 150.
    2. Re:Not merely 3rd grade science... by langelgjm · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'll let somebody else point out that the orbit is 133 years, not 150.

      The orbit is 133 years, not 150.

      --
      "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  23. America's Got Talent by vistic · · Score: 1

    When is Leonid peaking?

    1. Re:America's Got Talent by kfg · · Score: 2, Funny

      When is Leonid peaking?

      '72, but fizzled out all together ten years later.

      KFG

  24. Jeez by fm6 · · Score: 1
    Meteors are bits of dust or rock that plunge into the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, making bright streaks in the sky.
    Ah, the wikipedia mentality: lots of desire to "explain", no actual grasp of the facts. I'm not even going to touch the "dust or rock" description. But note that meteors come in all sizes. It's true that most burn up in the atmosphere. (I seem to recall reading that this happens thousands of times a day.) But some are big enough to leave their remains (meteorites) on the surface of the planet. These have been known to cause a little (or a lot) of damage.
    1. Re:Jeez by HotmanParisHiltonKam · · Score: 4, Informative

      And in fact the meteor is the light trail itself, not the lump of matter that creates the light trail by burning (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meteor). The lump is called a meteoroid and any part of it that hits the Earth as anything more than vapour is a meteorite.

      Yay for dumbing down science for the masses.

  25. Omicron Persei 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Damn, I thought this was about Futurama. :-(

  26. Sorry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I don't like the moon much either. I wish NASA would paint it black.
    ....they have to go there first!

  27. Perfect Timing... by BandwidthHog · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I only saw this thread because I ran up to where I can get an 802.11 signal to check a weather forecast. I wanted to make sure we’re not gonna get rained on... by the time this gets modded offtopic me and my woman will be on Waikiki Beach with a camera, a tripod, and a bottle of whisky.

    --

    Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  28. Re:Your signature by Alioth · · Score: 2, Informative

    Things like 'fud' and 'wishfulthinking' are perfectly valid as tags - if you want to search for stories that Slashdotters thought were FUD or wishful thinking. There's room for more than one tag - so something tagged 'linux', 'fud' and 'wishfulthinking' would allow people to, say, find stories about Linux that Slashdotters thought were fud (or wishful thinking) or just plainly about Linux.

  29. Skies by olego · · Score: 1

    *looks outside*

    It's cloudy tonight.

    *crawls back into bed*

    Maybe next time.

  30. Awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is terrible. Clearly, meteor showers must be banned.

  31. I use them as a weather indicator by zenst · · Score: 2, Funny

    SImple - If I read anything about a meteor shower that is has the slightest chance of being visable to the naked eye. Then I know for a fact it will be one of the most misrable clodiest days for ages, even after few good solid weeks without a cloud in the sky.

    We had meteor forcast, its cloudy that even the clouds are obscured by clouds.

    I there conclude that all these reports of meteor showrs are causing global warming - FIN :).

  32. Others this year? by decadre · · Score: 1

    Will this be the only meteor shower this year of this magnitude? If I had had more warning I would have gone away camping up somewhere high and out of town.

    Would really appreciate the info!

    1. Re:Others this year? by swordgeek · · Score: 2, Informative

      Lots of showers throughout the year, although the Perseids is generally the best.
      The Leonids, Geminids, and Orionids are the next biggest showers. You can find out here:

      Meteor Shower article.

      --

      "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
  33. Not bad in N. Illinois by Lars83 · · Score: 1

    I saw about 10 in a half hour. One was awesome...streaked about 60 degrees right across my field of view. It was cloudy earlier, but it has since cleared up (5:00am CDT).

  34. Stuff that matters! by Jugalator · · Score: 2, Funny

    On Slashdot, you're reminded of stuff that matters a full year in advance!

    Thanks!

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  35. Dupe! by Koohoolinn · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's a dupe because we've had reports about this on 2004/08/10, 2003/08/13, 2002/08/08, ...

    I can almost see a pattern emerging... D'oh!

    --
    Deze sig is in 't Nederlands geschreven.
    1. Re:Dupe! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wasn't it important enough to discuss in 2005?

  36. Re:Your signature by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 0

    You seem to be talking shit. Just because idiots don't listen doesn't mean thats what they're ment to be used that way.

    Yes, No and Maybe should not be on every damn article posted. They're not useful for anything because all 3 link up together in the same article more times than not.

    Fud and notfud on the other hand are perfectly valid tags. Could be useful to see how much fud is posted on slashdot for example.

    Also this "democracy" you speak of is a fictional idea on Slashdot. We live in a state where random people are given total power over 5 things for a moment. It's randomly selected but it's no where near "every user gets to input in the rating of a comment". Not to mention the fact that you could tag "ZOMG PONIES!!" to every article and people wouldn't be able to stop you or remove the tags.

    --
    I like muppets.
  37. Detecting aliens by alienmole · · Score: 1
    You also should learn that brain could be found it should be in your head, not between your legs.. stop annoying, ok ?
    That's exactly the sentence structure you'd expect from a disgruntled alien, shot down by the USAF.
    1. Re:Detecting aliens by SGI-Batman · · Score: 1

      I surrender, guess I'm not intelligent enough to follow... *sigh*

  38. Overrated by equivocal · · Score: 1

    Staying awake all night, shivering, having to watch for critters--all to see 12, count 'em 12, streaks of light. Bah.

    1. Re:Overrated by Eccles · · Score: 1

      Sheesh, I was in the Berkshires and didn't know it was Perseid time. I just did a bit of star gazing because I'm usually in areas of too much light pollution and wanted to see the Milky Way for the first time in ~30 years. I just saw two meteors, but was quite impressed with that.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  39. Saw a good display last weekend. by weeboo0104 · · Score: 1

    My fiancee and I were camping last weekend in Muskegon, Michigan and saw a pretty impressive display (maybe the beginning or the Perseids) last Saturday around 4-5am. The moon had set by then and we had a good view of Casseopia and Perseus just coming over the horizen. We hadn't gotten up originally to watch for meteors, but they got my attention when our campsite got lit up by a small fireball overhead. We watched for about 45 minutes and saw about 2 fast moving and faint meteors per minute. It was one of the better displays I have seen in my lifetime. We also saw a good fireball the following Monday west of Chicago around 9pm. The was light to moderate cloud cover and the fireball was bright enough to be seen as it moved above moderate clouds.

    Just because you didn't see meteors the night they were forecast, don't be discouraged from looking in good conditions the week before and after a show is forecast.

    --
    It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
  40. And we're reading about it on Sunday by heroine · · Score: 1

    Did google ban this from being published until Sunday? Now that it's over, what's the point?

  41. If it wasn't the moon... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    it would be lightbulbs.

    Or zeppelins.

    Or puffins also I think maybe they go quite high too maybe not as high as the moon coz the moon is very high.

    (For those who don't get the pop-culture reference, It makes flash worthwhile).

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  42. Re:Overrated - NOT by solitas · · Score: 1

    Went outside 0100 to 0230 (it's always best after local midnight because THEN your location has swung around the limb so that the debris is coming head-on - kind of useless to go out before 0000). Saw 'bout a couple dozen - big 'uns 'n little 'uns. Last couple years have been cloudy in August, so this was a good one in CT.

    --
    "It's time to take life by the cans." ~ Bender ("Bendin' in the Wind", ep. 3-13)
  43. Hard to Breathe? by lullabud · · Score: 2, Informative

    Almost anybody who lives in the mountains of Colorado knows you don't need oxygen to climb a 14er. You say 10,000 feet requires oxygen? That means that all the people who are skiing at places like Crested Butte would need oxygen, since you get off the ski lift more than a thousand feet above that altitude. Skiing is also much more vigorous than flying a plane, but people don't go blind from lack of oxygen while doing it, even above 10,000 feet.

    FAA regulations are overly cautious due to other circumstances which could create compound problems in which lives would be at stake. FAR 91.211 says that oxygen is required after 30 minutes of flying between 12,500 and 14,000 feet, or immediately when flying above 14,000 feet in a non-pressurized cabin. Supplemental oxygen is only suggested for flying at 10,000 feet during daylight, or 6,000 at night. But that's just a suggestion, not a requirement.

    As for hypoxia during star gazing at 14,000 feet, this isn't a vigorous activity we're talking about. You'd likely not be starved for oxygen by merely laying on the ground.

    Of course, none of this considers that the person who did the star gazing may have been acclimated to the altitude by spending months or years in high altitudes. When I was a kid in Colorado I saw more stars than I've ever seen anywhere else.

    1. Re:Hard to Breathe? by afidel · · Score: 1

      First time I tried to do high altitude climbing was on Mt Whitney. The first day we climbed to 12,500 feet. After setting up camp we prepared dinner, which turned out to be a mistake. The oxygen required to digest the food drove my blood oxygen concentration low enough that I experienced severe hypoxia. We had to break camp and climb back below 10K feet in the dark, definitly not a fun experience. After spending the next day back at 12,500 feet I managed to reach the 14,500 foot summit on day three. The next time I tried high alititude climbing I allowed a few more days for acclimating at ~10K feet.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    2. Re:Hard to Breathe? by edunbar93 · · Score: 1

      You say 10,000 feet requires oxygen?

      Well, the FAA seems to think so:

      http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochu res/media/hypoxia.pdf

      But as they say, every person's reaction to hypoxia is different.

      --
      "No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
  44. Required vs Encouraged by lullabud · · Score: 1

    Naturally so, every person's reaction to it would be different. However, the PDF seems to agree with what I said, that you are enouraged to use Oxygen, but not *required*, as your original post said. That said, I'd want my pilot taking all the ncessecary precautions when flying VFR. Star gazing is still another matter altogether. ;-)

    1. Re:Required vs Encouraged by edunbar93 · · Score: 1

      Star gazing is still another matter altogether. ;-)

      Another matter in which I'm an expert. :) (And so are they)

      While the view generally gets better the higher you go, the higher you go above 10,000 ft, the less oxygen your brain and eyeballs get to see with. O2 improves this so much at 14,000 ft, I've heard pilots describe the difference as "like turning the lights on". Especially at night (someone else mentioned that the FAR rules are lower at night as well).

      While I expect that the view was quite spectacular like you say, it's not anywhere near as good as it could be, unless you're Chilean. "Just lying on the ground" might not be a very vigorous activity, but neither is flying VFR.

      --
      "No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
  45. It was cold @14K. Yes I'm sure they were real. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    14,270ft

    I'm well acclimated since I live at 9,000ft.

    Nevertheless my resting respiration rate was 20 vs my normal 12.

    It was chilly. It did snow on us.

    Pictures here http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php? t=58977

  46. In other news... by slowhand · · Score: 1

    Leonid is predicted to bathe rather than shower next year as above average rainfall has been reported this year.

    --
    Busy aligning my non-linear thoughts.
  47. Perseid Meteor Shower To Peak Last Weekend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get this bad feeling whenever a meteor shower comes around... One of these days a good sized speck of dust will hit a geosync satellite, causing a slow chain reaction of wrecks until we're surrounded by a ring of satellite pieces. Hope I'm wrong here...

  48. Spectacular Meteor Shower Possible for 2007 by Krishna+Dagli · · Score: 1