San Marcos Record, San Marcos, TX

Features

August 9, 2008

Meteor shower due in the early morning on Tuesday

Answers-To-Go

By Susan Smith

Q. I’ve been told there is a meteor shower due in August. Can you help me with details? I don’t want to miss it.



A. The August issue of Sky and Telescope provides details on getting the best view of the Perseid meteor shower. The ideal time for viewing this meteor shower is early morning on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The moon will set at 2 a.m. and viewing then should be good until dawn.

If you have a good, dark sky, you may see a meteor on the average of once a minute. Perseids can flash into view anywhere so watch whatever part of your sky is darkest.

The author offers this advice: “Find a spot with an open sky view, wrap up warmly in winter clothes and a sleeping bag.

Clear August nights can get surprisingly cold.” I guess this author isn’t a Texan!

After the bit about the winter clothes, I decided to confirm this information at the Web site of the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory: http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/. The viewing date and times were identical.

The observatory had some additional suggestions for prime viewing: “The meteors will appear to ‘rain’ into the atmosphere from the constellation Perseus which rises in the northeast around 11 p.m.

“Once you have settled at your observing spot, lay back to position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision. The stars and sky should fill your field of view. Meteors will instantly grab your attention as they streak by.

“How will you know if the sky is dark enough? If you can see each star of the Little Dipper, your eyes have ‘dark adapted,’ and your chosen site is probably dark enough.”

Polaris, the North Star is the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper.



Q. I often include Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” in my gigs. I’m looking for some background information to use in the introduction. I think I’ve heard there was some story about how it was written.



A. We have a book of quotations on songwriting, “And Then I Wrote: The Songwriter Speaks.”

Regarding “Yesterday,” it quotes McCartney: “I had a piano by my bedside, and I must have dreamed it, because I tumbled out of bed and put my hands on the piano keys, and I had a tune in my head. It was just all there, a complete thing.

“I couldn’t believe it. It came too easy. In fact, I didn’t believe I’d written it. I thought maybe I’d heard it before, it was some other tune. I went around for weeks playing the chords of the song, asking people, ‘Is this like something? I think I’ve written it.’”

San Marcos is rich in musical talent. For those musicians who’d like to branch out into songwriting, we have several options. The library has a copy of Dick Weissman’s “Creating Melodies: A Songwriter’s Guide to Understanding, Writing and Polishing Melodies.”

If you’d like to join a group interested in songwriting, the library is offering a four session workshop on songwriting led by Ian Lee. Space is limited. Call the library at 393-8200 for details or to register.

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