Poetry is language in short paragraphs

The Tau Herculid meteor shower is expected on May 31.

See the end note about enlarging illustrations.

As our entry for it in the “Meteors” section of Astronomical Calendar 2022 says, its radiant is actually in Boötes. It derives from the extraordinary comet 73P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, which is in an almost circular orbit well out beyond Jupiter, must be large, and is subject to intermittent vast outbursts of brightness as it progressively disintegrates. Dust from a fragmentation in 1995 is expected to cause a noticeable shower this year. The zenithal hourly rate is 14 (that’s the expectable number counted by one observer in an hour at peak time with good sky conditions and the radiant overhead). But there just might be a more spectacular show, considering the comet’s history of outbursts and the fragmentation event. And this year the date is favorable, only a day after new Moon. The meteors’ speed is slow, most are likely to be dim unless they are large cometary fragments.

As with many showers, the radiant is highest in the sky after midnight, and it is in those morning hours that the meteors are likely to be more numerous, swift, and bright, because they are meeting the front side of the traveling Earth.

I woke this  morning thinking:

The meteors and dreams come after midnight,
Our brow advancing scoops them from the dark.

Red, white, and blue

The Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the 70th anniversary of her reign, will be celebrated this week. Our street in Isleworth, like our previous street in Lyme Regis, is a village main street that gets decorated with flags. And so an officiating neighbor came up and affixed one end of a line of bunting to our top windowsill.

You’d think we are patriotic.

We just like this cushion, which we got from the Union Jack Club, to which I found I could claim membership because I once was called up to the army. The previous flag we flew from this window was that of the European Union, in protest against Britain’s retrograde move of leaving it.

Red lines

Russia says that supplying Ukraine with long-range artillery, to defend itself against attacks by long-range artillery, would cross a red line. One would think that invading someone else’s country and devastating it and genociding it is the red line crossing of all red line crossings.

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ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format.  You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor.  One way: right-click, and choose “View image” or “Open image in new tab”, then enlarge.  Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it.  On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers).  Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.

Sometimes I make improvements or corrections to a post after publishing  it.  If you click on the title, rather than on ‘Read more’, I think you are sure to see the latest version.  Or you can click ‘Refresh’ to get the latest version.

This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.