Perseid Meteors

Villa Casamanza, Nr Perugia, Umbria, Italy

Last night was the annual Perseid meteor shower - one of the best meteor showers of the year. It is caused by the earth moving through the tail of comet Swift Tuttle and usually gives a good show.

So making good use of the clear skies here, around 10:00pm last night I was settled on a comfy sun lounger by the pool facing towards the NE and ready for a good show. And for the next hour or so, it was exactly that. I maybe saw ten meteors per minute at the most, and never less than one or two per minute.

Last week, when our life coaching sessions turned to hobbies, it was thought to be very amusing that I liked astronomy so much - that despite my earlier comments that hobbies were incommensurable between people. It seemed that the title of "Sky and Telescope" magazine seemed to remind people of "Have I got news for you" and the headline feature in which a strange and unusual publication is featured. My claims that S&T was the largest selling magazine of its kind in the world and was not just some geek publication fell on deaf ears I'm afraid.

But no doubt next week, when I get home from Italy, I will be off to Oxford to see if, among other magazines, the new issue of S&T is out. Is this a sign of a sad life, or the sign of someone who knows the value of hobbies?

And remember - "the meteorite is the source of the light, and the meteor's just what we see"