Perseid Meteor Shower - August 12, 2010

Phyliss Wrote:


I volunteered to organize the August Mosaic event because for a long time I’ve wanted to take a guided tour of the stars with an astronomer. The nice thing about organizing a Mosaic hike (in this case, Mosaic event) is that you can plan the program you’d love to do, or tour of the site you always wanted to visit (which might be beyond your technical or financial ability if you had to do it alone) and then share it with everyone.

This year the peak of the Perseid meteor shower fell on August 12, two days after Rosh Chodesh, so the sky was as dark as could be. And August 12 was a Thursday night, which is when Mosaic weekends start. An ideal date to watch the stars…

When our buses left Jerusalem at 20:50, the sky was ominously overcast, and I seriously considered canceling the program. But “Astro Tom” Rosenfeld, our sky guide, who had already arrived at Mitzpe Masua, in Britain Park, phoned to tell me that the sky south of Beit Shemesh was reasonably clear. So, with some misgivings, 33 Mosaic chevre set out to join him.

Although I had engaged one astronomer guide, we lucked out when Tom showed up with his colleague Daniel Jackson and three telescopes. Tom and Daniel took turns giving over a history of astronomy from the Sumerians to Galileo; explaining about meteors, meteor showers, and meteorites; and answering all the questions that that everyone always wanted to ask an astronomer.

We all had opportunities to observe Jupiter through the telescopes, with its “belt” from 2 o’clock to 8 o’clock across its disk. Suspended in pitch-black space, Jupiter was swinging its partners — an entourage of four tiny bright points dancing just below it to its left — moons that unmistakably changed position between 10 pm and 1 am. The very same sight that astounded Galileo four centuries ago astounded me too, even though, unlike him, I should not have been surprised. But the difference between seeing Jupiter and its satellites with my own eyes and seeing them on film is like the difference between meeting someone face-to-face and looking at a photo album. It’s probably the closest I’ll ever come to communing with the cosmos.

We also had a telescopic look at the Andromeda galaxy, the only galaxy visible to the naked eye (well, maybe some people’s naked eyes, or perhaps it’s more visible on clearer nights). We also took a guided tour of the Milky Way and the more recognizable stars and constellations. Tom pointed them out with his green laser pointer, and told us about their histories and legends.
Only people crazy about the idea of a guided tour of the sky showed up, and the evening didn’t disappoint anyone — not even those who expected meteor showers to look like fireworks. (One “streak” every few minutes counts as a “heavy shower.”) Tom and Daniel kept us all engaged the whole time. I thought people would start to fidget after 2 1/2 hours, and I figured that we’d leave when people got bored; but after 4 hours I finally had to cut the program short to announce that it was time to return to the buses. By then the clouds were returning, so the timing wasn’t too bad.

As always, Warren outdid himself with a chocolate fudge cake, but it was too dark to serve it at the park. We ate it on the bus ride home, and it was truly delicious!

Many of the 33 participants expressed interest in attending another star-gazing event, in the Negev next time, where there will be no clouds or fog, no city lights or headlights, and no obnoxious teenagers 50 yards away glaring at us with their flashlights.