# Yeah, astronomers, that meteor shower was REAL exciting . . .can I go back to bed? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 18, 2001, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055 "2001-11-18T10:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/41 "2001-11-19T20:22:16Z")
I was outside from around midnight until 6, It wasn’t as great as I thought it would be, but it was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/42 "2001-11-19T23:05:50Z")
You know Vinnie, you didn’t have to stay up to watch them. Where I was, it was really nice. Middle of Ohio, deserted country road. Some friends and I went out and watched. Cool experience. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/43 "2001-11-20T00:35:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muffin \* > \*\*[I rode in the front seat of the spaceship.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1835892#post1835892) \*\* ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/44 "2001-11-20T03:17:28Z")
Last night a meteorite killed my dog. :mad: I’m blaming YOU, **Vinnie**! You and your wishing upon shooting stars. [sub]And **Jiminy Cricket** , too. Screw that little instigator. [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/45 "2001-11-20T03:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by heresiarch \* > \*\*Last night a meteorite killed my dog. :mad: > I’m blaming YOU, **Vinnie**! You and your wishing upon shooting stars. > [sub]And **Jiminy Cricket** , too. Screw that little instigator. [/sub] \*\* I think yer blamin’ the wrong guy. Read this ``` Military Concerned That Meteors Will Rally Taliban Though the Taliban is in retreat, generals and ``` advisors continue to warn the public not to consider the war already won. The following statement was made by Richard Stohr, a two-star general. “First let me say that we are pleased with the operation thus far. We have liberated Kabuul. Several high-ranking Al Quida members are confirmed dead. However, the fighting is far from over. Osama Bin Laden remains alive. Though diminished, Taliban forces are still a threat to our ground troops. But the pressing danger is the Leonid meteor shower. We strongly suspect that Bin Laden will come out of his cave tonight and use of the once-in-a-lifetime magnitude of this years meteor shower. He will be able, at a rate that may rise to a thousand times per minute, make wishes. For each shooting star, Bin Laden will be able to wish for more troops, more ammuntion, the death of Americans, or citizens of allied nations. He may even wish for nuclear weapons with first strike capability. But we have prepared for this. I announce Operation Ziggy. As you can see in this chart, the lovable character is also wiching on a star. It is the duty of every patriotic American to watch the Leonids and wish against Bin Laden’s wishes. I, personally, will remain awake for as long as meteors remain visible. General Powell and the Joint Chiefs will do the same. Several of our senator have also volunteered to patricipate. Senator McCain told me ‘I survived a damn POW camp. There’s no way in hell I’m letting my country be taken out by some prick in a turban,’. Support was bipartisan. Senator Liebowitz presented me with a list of Democrats who would also participate. He saluted me and said ‘There are 51 stars that I care about very deeply. The Star of David that is the symbol of my faith and the 50 stars on our nation’s flag which are the symbols of not only this great country but of liberty and freedom themselves.’ But the more of you who participate the more successful we will be.” The General then took questions from members of the press. He refused to give specific locations for the staging of Operation Ziggy, or to give the specific wording that would be used, citing national security. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/46 "2001-11-26T20:52:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\*Hmm, I wonder what that is over there. Ah, hell. Those are the clouds that they predicted. Boy, those suckers sure are moving fas… SHIT!!" > > Within minutes the sky was completely obscured. I couldn’t see dick. > > What a waste. My neck hurts, I’m tired, and I didn’t see anything. > > Fucking astronomers! Who needs ‘em!! \*\* Looks to me like your problem is with **meteorologists.** As for me, the only meteorites I saw were on CNN the next morning. It’s very difficult for me to stay awake all night. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/47 "2001-11-27T00:37:39Z")
Let me guess, **jab1** , you didn’t read the whole thread, did you? Come on, you can admit it. [-ahem-](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1836284#post1836284) ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/48 "2001-11-27T01:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > \*\*You know, I think that anyone who predicts “The Greatest Meteor Shower of X, Y, and Z” should be drug out and shot, because 1) predicting the quality of a meteor shower is freakin’ voodoo, and should be relegated to colleges of astrology (I’m exaggerating, but still)… \*\* But have you been following the research of the past few years? Astronomers plotted out the orbits of cometary debris for decades, using recorded observations of major meteor activity. So when you follow the orbit over decades, you know when the earth’s orbit falls in the same spot as the Great Meteor Shower of 1833 or whatever. And that’s just what happened this time, the predictions were confirmed. But that doesn’t mean squat to me because it was overcast at my location. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/49 "2001-11-27T01:34:32Z")
Actually, **Chas.E** , I attended a talk on this very topic given at a meeting of the Division of Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society. The speaker predicted that the peak rate would approach 10,000 meteors per hour. Point is, you can find predictions for a wide variety of rates, but the media pick up on the wildest claims, and when they do that, folks are almost inevitably disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/50 "2001-11-27T02:22:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\*Let me guess, **jab1** , you didn’t read the whole thread, did you? > > Come on, you can admit it. \*\* [sub]I admit it…[/sub] _ **DON’T HURT ME, PLEASE!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/51 "2001-11-28T20:17:52Z")
A few years ago a few members of my hiking club, myself included, backpacked [Havasu Canyon](http://www.kaibab.org/gc/supai/gc_supai.htm). The night before the hike, we camped on my friend’s land in Prescott Valley, a high-desert area. Everyone else pitched a tent but I unrolled my Thermarest on the ground, my sleeping bag on top of that, and slept under the stars. As I was lying on my back with my eyes still open, I saw a meteor engulfed in flame streak across the sky trailing an orange blaze of light. Sorry, but nothing I saw early in the morning of 11/18 could ever compare to that. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055/52 "2001-11-28T22:20:12Z")
That reminds me of a camping trip my family went on back in 1972 (or so) in Colorado National Monument. One night, there was no moon out, so it was very dark. Daddy was the last to bed and, the next morning, he told us that a meteorite had passed over VERY low, and was so bright, it cast visible shadows! He said it burned up before it hit the ground, which disappointed me, because I wanted to go look for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-astronomers-that-meteor-shower-was-real-exciting-can-i-go-back-to-bed/94055.md?page=2)