:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 12.12.2004 ::
:: The Geminids ::
ALL-NIGHT SHOWER
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press
One of the astronomical highlights this month is the Geminid meteor shower. It's one of the best meteor showers of the year, and, unlike most meteor showers, it's visible all night.
It will peak from Monday night to early Tuesday morning. Even in the city, you may see 10 to 20 meteors or "shooting stars" an hour, and in the dark skies of the countryside, you may see more than 40 meteors an hour!
The Gemini meteor shower occurs each year at this time as the Earth, in its orbit around the sun, runs into a debris trail left behind by an asteroid. It's called the Geminid because all of the meteors seem to emanate from the direction of the constellation Gemini the Twins, which will be nearly overhead at midnight.
ALSO
Geminid Meteor Showers Alarm Area Residents
NBC 4.com, DC
WASHINGTON -- A meteor shower that had some startled motorists calling police is expected to continue over the next few days.
Meteors a star-studded show
Brisbane Courier Mail, Australia
WITH television in a summer dry spell and competition for prime DVD rentals fierce, the best show may not be in your lounge room but directly above it tonight.
Be dazzled by December meteors
Astronomy Magazine
The annual Geminid meteor shower, whose peak occurs the night of December 13, usually puts on a great show.
The Geminid Meteor Shower
KCBD-TV, TX
Make hot cocoa. Bundle up. Tell your friends: the best meteor shower of 2004 is about to peak on a long cold December night.
"Year's Best" Meteor Shower Peaks Monday Night
National Geographic
"You can begin to see the Geminids almost as soon as it gets dark," Cooke said. "You won't see many but you'll see them and you can see them all night."
Weird Geminids
Science @ NASA
What are the Geminid meteors? Scientists aren't sure. Perhaps chips off an exotic asteroid or dust from an extinct comet. In either case, they'll soon be here.
posted by me
:: 10:01:00 PM [+] ::
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