What with the March Regulus occultation by asteroid Erigone being a cloud out on the east coast and the April Lunar eclipse also blocked from our view it seemed amazing that it was actually going to be clear for the a possible new meteor shower on the evening of May 23-24. The predictions of Earth skimming through debris left behind by comet 209P/LINEAR on one of its passes over a century ago brought some over-the top predictions from the media ("200+ meteors per hour possible!", "comet 209B/LINEAR is expected to light up the night skies in May 2014 in a dazzling display"). Please people - the event is associated with a comet, one of the most notoriously unpredictable denizens of the night sky. It hadn't been 6 months since ISON went to ISOFF in a significant disappointment to sky gazers everywhere.
But still - who wants to be that guy who stayed home on a beautiful spring night if there's even a remote opportunity of catching a few dozen shooting stars? Obviously not me, so I grabbed my camera, binoculars, lawn chair, and some warm apparel and headed out to the Alpha Ridge observing location just west of Baltimore. When I got there it was just getting dark and there were a surprising number of folks who had assembled hoping for a show. Those with scopes were enjoying the planetary trifecta of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn; as the skies darkened they pursued deeper quarry of cluster, nebulae, and galaxies above the park.
I settled in facing North and placed the Big Dipper into the camera field. Around 11 pm I began clicking off 30 second exposures hoping to catch a piece of comet dust streaking through that familiar constellation. I would occasionally take a break and hunt down familiar Messier objects with the Oberwerks. There is something to be said for just lounging comfortably out under the stars, enjoying a cosmic game of I spy.
Unfortunately by 1 a.m. my grand total of observed meteors was three - two of which were sporadics and one maybe was a Camelopardalid. And obviously nothing to show on film other than some pleasant Ursa Major shots. But even without the Giraffe's meteors it was a relaxing, bug-free, temperate, great Friday night under the stars with like minded souls. To quote Charlie Sheen, "Winning!!"
