Annual Meteor Shower Lights up Night Sky

The Perseids Meteor shower as seen from Orr Springs Road in Mendocino County

Ever year in late July and early August the Perseids meteors light up the night sky. Known as the best meteor shower of the year, the Perseids will peak the night of August 11th and 12th, though many can be seen the week before and after. On a normal year, skywatchers can expect to see somewhere around 80 meteors per hour, or one about every 45 seconds.

The Perseids meteors are small chunks of a celestial rock that fall from space through the Earth’s atmosphere. Traveling at approximately 133,200 mph, most are similar in size to a grain of sand and almost never hit the ground, but if one does, it is called a meteorite. The annual event occurs during the first few weeks of August every year when the Earth skirts along the edge of a debris field left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. The name Perseids comes from a placed called the radiant, which lies in the constellation Perseus. The name derives in part from the word Perseides, a term found in Greek mythology referring to the sons of Perseus.

No telescopes or binoculars are required to view the Perseids, though.

August 11, 2022 Personal

Hello, World

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. - Friedrich Nietzsche

It’s early on a Sunday morning, and I am sitting here listening to the world wake up around me as I sip on a cup of coffee. I’m sitting near an open window, and I can hear sounds of cars and trucks roaring down the freeway outside; I resist an urge to crawl back into bed and go back to sleep. I hope the coffee kicks in soon.

Last night a friend of mine asked for my opinion on an important issue that was bothering her, and during our conversation, she reminded me how blogging helped me work through some issues I had been going through a few years ago. You see, I used to write almost daily about weight loss and personal growth on a blog called Fuck You Cookie,” but as time went on, blogging became a chore, and after a couple of years of almost daily writing, I deleted the blog and moved on.

It’s time to be responsible and retake control of my life. I’ve been complacent for too long, and I believe that I will be able to work through some of the issues that have been bothering me as of late by taking direct action.

I can’t promise an article a day or that they will all be interesting, but I’ll try to write at least once a week. Topics will be varied, and I’ll be bouncing around work, life, health, and fitness. So that’s that. I am writing again. eof.

July 31, 2022 Personal