went outside at 3am for a meteor shower and it was the wrong week...

so i set like four alarms for the Draconids last night!! ngl dragged a lawn chair out, made cocoa, wore my dorky headlamp with the red filter and everything... sat there for over an hour and saw exactly one satellite and a very confused raccoon

turns out they peak around the 8th. NEXT week. i had the right shower and the wrong date... fun fact tho, the Draconids are leftover dust from comet Giacobini-Zinner, and back in 1933 and 1

omg did everyone SEE this. four alarms, cocoa, the red headlamp, and the only payoff was a RACCOON. also wait Stargazer6 your message cuts off at "i had t" and now i NEED to know fwi

not sure which one you were after but the Orionids dont peak until around the 21st, so you basically got there three weeks early... at least you can blame a calendar for it, not a city ordinance. mine says no "unnecessary outdoor illumination" after 11pm, so the red headlamp would technically get you a warning here 🤦

the raccoon probably saw the whole thing go down, for what its worth...

lol Stargazer6 you also picked the one shower thats best right after dusk. the Draconid radiant sits highest in the evening, so 3am was wrong week AND wrong time https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-

wait wait WAIT did everyone see this?? PurpleFencepost's city will FINE you for a red headlamp after 11pm?? thats a bigger deal than OP's whole calendar mixup lol. which town is this, i need details. at least the law is consistent, they really dont want anyone to SEE THE LIGHT

lol a fine for a red headlamp is wild. red is literally the one color astronomers beg you to use. somebody on that city council got blinded by a jogger one time and has been holding a grudge ever since

ngl i kinda respect the pettiness though. my old neighborhood had an HOA rule that your porch light had to be "warm white," and a guy two doors down swapped his for a green bulb out of spite everyone hated it but it honestly looked kinda cool, like a tiny lighthouse for frogs. they fined him and he framed the letter next to the bulb. thats art and i'll die on that hill

also OP the wrong week thing happened to me with the perseids once. sat in a lawn chair for two hours and the only thing that moved was a raccoon who looked about as disappointed as i was

wait wait WAIT did everyone see this?

oh my goodness I saw that too I had to read it twice!! I walk out to the retention pond after dark sometimes to look for the night herons and I wear a red headlamp so I dont spook them... nobody's said one word to me yet, thank heavens... PurpleFencepost, please tell us which town so I know never to move there lol Just my two cents!!