The surprise Camelopardalid meteor shower surprised to the downside, it seems, last night. I was out for a couple of hours and saw perhaps half a dozen meteors from my well-treed urban location. Other observers are reporting similar results. I was hoping for a meteor storm, one of the unseen objects on my celestial bucket list. Looks like I’ll have to wait for another time.
But still, it was a lovely evening…
The air was cool and moist and smelled of lilac, and the Summer Triangle and northern Milky Way slowly turned overhead. I grabbed a pair of 12×36 binoculars and embarked on an unhurried and unplugged tour of the Milky Way from Cygnus into Sagittarius. Despite the humidity and light pollution, I took in the beautiful double-star Albireo, the Dumbbell Nebula, the rich region of stars around Lyra, large open star clusters like IC 4665 around Poniatowski’s Bull, the nebulae and star clusters of Serpens and Sagittarius, and a dozen more objects I haven’t seen with binoculars for many years.
The ISS also made an appearance. It rose from the west, moving slow and fat as a bumblebee through the Big Dipper before sinking in the northeast. With the 12x binoculars, I could easily see a hint of shape of the space station as it passed near the celestial pole.
Not many meteors, alas, but still a night well spent. Keep an open mind and a good pair of binoculars, and the night sky always presents you with a plan B.
(Image above: A single Camelopardalid meteor, taken May 24, 2014 by Bob King, as published in Universe Today)