Last night the conditions were perfect. A beautiful clear sky. Sadly I missed any trace of the aurora but in my half hour out I did see two meteors. I had a lovely view of Perseus. I have learnt a new word: radiant. I have enjoyed reading about comet Swift-Tuttle. It is interesting that after its discovery in 1862 that they predicted incorrectly the date of return. With something that has a 133 year orbit, it is hard to figure out on one viewing how long its orbital period is because you have to wait so long. It turns out it had been seen before so that made it predictable. And the dust that it left behind perhaps 1000 years ago gives us our annual spectacle.
