Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Perseids From The Sky

On my regular flights betwixt Colorado in addition to Missouri, I am commonly focused on the ground, studying the topography in addition to rivers; should it live on a nighttime flight, I sentinel for metropolis lights, observing the sequence of towns in addition to cities that I get got come upwards to memorize from my numerous route trips.

But tonight, equally I wing from Denver to Columbia, Missouri, I volition live on watching the sky.  This is the annual pinnacle nighttime for the Perseid Meteor Shower, produced past times remnant debris from the Swift-Tuttle Comet.  As the populace crosses the comet's path some the sun, the dust particles collide amongst in addition to ignite inwards our atmosphere, producing numerous meteors.  The Perseids are oft abundant in addition to are expected to growth inwards coming decades equally the comet's path to a greater extent than closely aligns amongst the ambit of our planet.

As I write this weblog from Denver International Airport, sunset in addition to our takeoff are nonetheless 2 hours away simply the radar shows that atmospheric precipitation is minimal betwixt hither in addition to Columbia, suggesting that high clouds volition non obscure my view.  Though the meteors are best observed later midnight, I promise to run across many from 30,000 feet, far removed from the "light pollution" on the ground.


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