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(meteorobs) Re: NM naked-eye meteors+ more
After about 1960 the knowledge that meteors can be seen without a telescope
was lost by the public due to spreading light pollution. Hardly anyone
today is aware you can see meteors with the unaided eye. The media is of no
help in getting the word out either as evidenced by the following,
>Scott Millett, 20, was trying to watch a meteor shower through a telescope
>at his home on Santiago Drive, but light from a nearby light pole was
>hindering his view ...
>Millett broke into the base of the pole and tried to cut the main power
>cord when he was electrocuted ...
although possibly the deceased was similarly among the unaware. He
certainly was unaware of hot wires.
A media presentation took place in Fort Myers for the 1985 Draconids.
Hearing about a possible good show coming, the TV crew went to the
light-polluted observatory on the local community college campus.
Telecasting from inside the dome with a 12" refractor as a backdrop, the
public must have inferred the Draconids could not be seen without a
telescope. To wrap it up, they slowly zoomed in on the long tube and panned
its length while intoning the message of how much you could see if only you
had a telescope this big. Not much ; the optics were poor as well as gross
light pollution present.
As soon as someone learns that you are an amateur astronomer, you are
usually asked if you 1) do horoscopes, and 2) visit the local planetarium.
If the inquirer learns that you are also interested in meteors, the next
question is 3) do you need a telescope to see them. Joan has experienced
these exact questions from people that she has told of my interest in
astronomy. I outgrew planetariums by age 14. But I did go to the Hayden
Planetarium in New York before heading to Africa to see the 1973 June 30
eclipse. After learning in my earliest days that this was the biggest one,
I had to see it. The Vega bulb was burned out that day and I informed the
personnel.
Bob forgot that he has above-average meteor perception when he wrote this,
>I have read many messages that the
>Perseids were dull this year. Well if you were out with me this morning
>you would certainly not call the activity dull!
Had I been with him I would have seen only half as many meteors. Throughout
the 1980's he and Paul Jones of Florida consistently had the highest U.S.
Perseid rates. It is a humbling experience to observe with someone who sees
twice your rates ; it is downright humiliating to be with someone like the
1970's observer Bill Gates who sees four times your rates. There was one
time with Bill when I hit a five-minute blank period. I had nothing else to
do but count the meteors Bill was seeing -- he racked up 21 meteors that I
didn't see any of ! Bill was saying that I stopped seeing them ; I was
asking where they all went. Another time with seven of us observing, Bill
saw seven meteors in two minutes while no one else saw anything. He
wondered what our problem was.
Finally, the New Age author of this quote,
>One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,
>but by making the darkness conscious.
>
> -- C. G. Jung
is at variance with Christianity. Mr. Jung and I differ on where we are headed.
Norman
Norman W. McLeod III
Asst Visual Program Coordinator
American Meteor Society
Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com
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