Greetings and Salutations….

We had a shotgun blast of cometary fragments hit the Earth this last Tuesday morning, although, alas, I saw none of it. The Quadrantid shower came blasting through in the vicinity of 2:00 EST to 3:00 EST and left bright little streaks in the sky. It was the coldest night of the season yet here in Knoxpatch, so, I was not able to hang out in the open long enough to have a good chance of seeing any of them, alas. Between that, and the bright, city lights from down the road I actually saw no streaks. Kind of a shame, as it is a good shower, and has a sharp enough peak that catching it is a challenge. I did hear some chirps from radar returns broadcast on SpaceWeather.com, but that was about it.

Although it has been several years since I have managed to view a good shower, between the complications of life, the weather, and, the variability of the showers themselves, I have hopes that 2012 will bring some interesting sights.

As that great advocate of astronomy, Jack Horkheimer used to say "Keep Looking Up!"

regards

beemandave