# Anyone catch the meteor shower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755 "2016-08-14T04:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/21 "2016-08-17T22:12:38Z")
Ah, meteor showers! Just like with trickle-down economics, most of us are not even damp. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/22 "2016-08-18T00:17:24Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > 1. They are not worth a shit. Oh no not at all! Either that or you’re not doing it right. Or maybe you don’t enjoy meteor showers, at least not enough to overcome the mild inconvenience and discomfort to go out and see them. Every 33 years or so, due to its orbital inclination, the earth passes through the densest part of the Perseids, or Orionids, or Leonids. When that happens and when it coincides with or near to a new moon, go out after midnight _to a place with a clear (no trees, clouds) and dark sky_. It is better after midnight, when your part of the earth faces forward in the earth’s orbital direction (akin to a car’s front window hitting the bugs - before midnight it’s akin to looking out the rear window, no bugs on that window). It can truly be a fantastic show! Years ago when I did this I saw several a minute. Some were brief streaks while others were significant, lng and large streams. That was fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/23 "2016-08-18T01:46:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > As a little kid I heard of a meteor shower upcoming and planned to wake up in the middle of the night to see it. My plan had a few holes in it, mainly that I didn’t have an alarm clock or any other way to wake up. Instead I had a marvelous dream about seeing a meteor shower that far exceeded the reality of such a thing. It was many years before I got outside to see a decent shower, and it was a bit disappointing. Light pollution makes it quite difficult now. As a kid we would go camp out in the summer under the stars. In the dark of night you could see far more stars than you can now without going out far from civilization. The Milky Way was easily discernable on the horizon, there were stars everywhere like the freckles on a redhead after a day at the beach. Once in a rare while we’d see a falling star. Even the brief ones left a clear bright trail. Now it’s hard to make out all but the brightest stars that form the constellations. > > Then there was the time a meteor hit my car, but that’s another story. I can’t believe no one has asked yet, but what’s the rest of the story! I hope you survived! ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/24 "2016-08-18T16:57:25Z")
I had wanted to get out of the city to see the meteor shower, but ended up lying in the front yard from midnight- 3 am. Saw 11 good meteors, and 4 faint ones, saw an owl sit on my mailbox for several minutes, and had a nice chat with my son who was looking at meteors in California. My personal best was seeing the Leonid meteor storm in 1999-it was cloudy in Dallas so I drove east until I got out of the clouds. I ended up in a state park outside of Jackson, Mississippi. From 1 am until the sun rose- I saw a meteor every 2-3 seconds! Some were fireballs that left vapor trails across the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/25 "2016-08-18T17:03:32Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I can’t believe no one has asked yet, but what’s the rest of the story! I hope you survived! Yes, **TriPolar** , please tell us! > [@pudytat72](#): > > My personal best was seeing the Leonid meteor storm in 1999-it was cloudy in Dallas so I drove east until I got out of the clouds. I ended up in a state park outside of Jackson, Mississippi. From 1 am until the sun rose- I saw a meteor every 2-3 seconds! Some were fireballs that left vapor trails across the sky. From your description I think this is the big one I saw, too. It was a fantastic light show! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/26 "2016-08-19T15:38:40Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I can’t believe no one has asked yet, but what’s the rest of the story! I hope you survived! [Tripolar, channeling Baron Munchausen] …and that was just one of the many ways in which I met my death! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755/27 "2016-08-20T17:28:42Z")
Uploaded my movie. Play it full-screen for best effect. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rEfyS80qTs8/maxresdefault.jpg "Perseids meteor shower 8/13/16") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEfyS80qTs8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-the-meteor-shower/762755.md?page=1)