From: Michael Polansky <wxmike [at] pacbell.net>
Date: 9/01/2007 5:15 PDT


Please forgive any typos, but after being outdoors for the past hour, with my neck in a kinked back position, I'm having a bit or trouble focusing on the keyboard.

The weather in San Francisco was perfect for star gazing...skies were perfectly clear. I'm fortunate to have a back door in my old home that opens into a large light well, facing north thru east, affording em a ringside seat for most of the meteor shower events. I was able to keep the moon's light blocked by my DirecTV satellite dish that hangs over the back door entry.

The brightness of the individual meteors was noteworthy.....moonlight had no effect on them. Unfortunately, in the hour I stood outdoors, I did not see more than 7 or 8 meteors in total. That was extremely disappointing, given the hype and the late hour to hopefully experience a memorable event. Regrettably, the only memory I may have is a stiff neck.

This reminded me of the last appearance of Comet Halley in the mid 80's. That was the celestial fiasco of the century. Fortunately, Comets Hyakutake and, much more exciting, Comet Hale-Bopp brought redemption.

Sadly, the Aurigids were a bust for San Francisco.

Michael Polansky