If I were asked what human characteristics make for the best amateur astronomers, I'd have to say that being patient and humble would rank on up there. Having a penchant for gambling would help, too. No matter how rare and spectacular an upcoming astronomical event is predicted to be, we're always at the mercy of forces beyond our control when it comes to watching events in the night sky. Debris left in the wake of Comet Swift-Tuttle, shown in a November 1992 photo, causes the annual Perseid meteor shower that peaks around Aug. 12. Staff file photo by Johnny Horne Take meteor showers like next month's Perseid shower.
Meteors are bits of space rock left in the wakes of passing comets.
These particles strike our atmosphere at tremendous speeds, so fast that they are heated to white-hot temperatures. Meteor showers happen when the earth plows through a stream of these particles where the orbits of earth and the comet intersect. Swift Tuttle's most recent appearance in our skies came in 1992. Some of these meteors may be those rare fireballs that split the night, cast moving shadows as the pass overhead and leave trails that last for minutes. Seeing just one such meteor is one of the gems of amateur astronomy.