(meteorobs) In the media

[Norman W McLeod III]

> According to the Daily Mail "The perfect conditions for spotting meteors
> or meteor showers are a clear night sky giving good visibility and a
> half moon which enables bright meteors to shine through".
>
>    
The media sure can come out of left field with ideas.  For the 1985 
Geminids the local weatherman for two days was telling people to look 
south.  I had a chance to get on the radio while he was also there, and 
I trained him to say "look up" when asked about directions for meteors.  
He did it correctly for the next two years before I lost track of him.

For a coming lunar eclipse the television crew was talking about seeing 
"lights on the moon."  And they throw astronomy terms around with no 
clue about their meaning.  Time for another lunar eclipse near a meteor 
shower maximum, they thought the meteors would be harder to see during 
the eclipse.

I notice a lot of discussion about the Eridanids this year.  In my 
earliest full observing years, 1961 and 1962, my partner and I both 
noticed a handful of Eridanids, coming from the middle of the big bend 
of Eridanus.  They are bright, Perseid-like meteors with nice trains 
coming from direction ESE.  Eridanus rises high enough from Florida to 
shorten the paths before dawn.

Norman