Well, I missed the 'never-before-seen' meteor shower known as the Camelopardalids on May 23/24 because I was working and the ambient light was too great to see anything of interest.
So, last night, a friend in Fergus invited me to her place to see if I could catch the 'tail end' of the shower. From the deck at her place, I saw one and it was getting late, so I left and drove home to Guelph. As I was locking my car to go into the house, I saw another one! It was not in the area where I'd been looking -- it was actually considerably west of that, so I may have missed some because of standing next to my friend's house -- which blocked out my view of where they actually could be seen.
I'd read that they would be visible between Ursa Major and Cassiopeia. Instead, it was just below, and a little west of Ursa Major. Could the meteor shower could move that much in 24 hours? Or had I been looking in the wrong place?
Anyway, I booted it out to Jones Baseline and saw several more as I stood there, looking WNW (under the bowl of the Big Dipper / beneath the feet of Ursa Major), and feeling awed by the stars and the meteors.
Well, at least I got to see some of them. In fact, I would have been perfectly happy with just one.
So, last night, a friend in Fergus invited me to her place to see if I could catch the 'tail end' of the shower. From the deck at her place, I saw one and it was getting late, so I left and drove home to Guelph. As I was locking my car to go into the house, I saw another one! It was not in the area where I'd been looking -- it was actually considerably west of that, so I may have missed some because of standing next to my friend's house -- which blocked out my view of where they actually could be seen.
I'd read that they would be visible between Ursa Major and Cassiopeia. Instead, it was just below, and a little west of Ursa Major. Could the meteor shower could move that much in 24 hours? Or had I been looking in the wrong place?
Anyway, I booted it out to Jones Baseline and saw several more as I stood there, looking WNW (under the bowl of the Big Dipper / beneath the feet of Ursa Major), and feeling awed by the stars and the meteors.
Well, at least I got to see some of them. In fact, I would have been perfectly happy with just one.
