Meteors

 The Comet Swift-Tuttle orbits around  our sun about once every 132 years, leaving a field of debris as it goes.  Far from complaining about the detritus we celebrate it as The Perseid Meteor Shower as it enters our atmosphere.  Today was predicted to be the height of meteor activity, approaching 60 per hour, and Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) sponsored a  "Star Party" at Rooster Rock State Park.  Rooster Rock SP is about 25 miles outside of Portland, in the Columbia Gorge.  Reasonably distant from city lights, but at low elevation.
Large crowds were expected and people were advised to arrive early.  

 I arrived early afternoon and staked out a parking space, and was the second blanket on the grassy  knoll, (though not THAT grassy knoll!)

I hoped on the fixed gear bike and wandered around.

 

It was going to be a good evening for star gazing, it would be warm and clear.

 By 7PM folks started arriving.

By dark (10PM) there were over 1000 people there.

We never did see 60 per hour, but probably 20/hr.  The low elevation meant we had to look through a lot of atmosphere.  In past years I've been at 7000 feet of elevation in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area and you can see a lot more meteors and stars there!

One bonus tonight was seeing the International Space Station pass by.

.........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
  Today............12..............0...............0...............0.................12
 Jan...............765...............0...............0...............0...............765
Feb................248...............0...............0...............0................248
March...........183.................0................0..............0................183
April..............228...............0................0...............0 ................228
May................200................0...............0...............0.................200
June................199.................0..............26...............0.................199
July.................246................0...............0.................0...............246
August............131...............0.................0................0.................131
Total............2162...............0...............26...............0..............2188