1249: Meteor Showers

2013-08-09T20:57:29Z

Danhomerick:

{{comic
| number = 1249
| date = August 9, 2013
| title = Meteor Showers
| image = meteor showers.png
| titletext = Remember, meteors always hit the tallest object around.
}}

This comic spoofs the way that astronomical events are often reported in the mass media — events are often tagged with undeserved superlatives or described as being more dramatic than they actually are. In some cases, outright misinformation is spread. This phenomenon occurs in part the result of over-eager scientists, and in part because of journalists misunderstanding the subject.

Meteor showers, for example, typically occur regularly each year. Sometimes meteor showers are in fact likely to be relatively spectacular - for example when the peak of the shower occurs when your part of the world is in darkness and there is little moonlight. However, even in these cases it must be understood that there is nothing unusual about the meteor shower itself.

Most of the meteor showers listed in the comic are real, but some are made up (see below).

*({{w|Quadrantids|real}}) Quadrantids - January 4th - Bring pets inside during peak activity
:While keeping pets inside may be reasonable in a snowstorm or hurricane, no regular meteor shower poses much danger to pets.
*(made-up) Tricuspids - January 21st - Not viewable in region 2 countries
:Apparently a play on the {{w|tricuspid valve}} in mammalian hearts, or possibly on bicuspid teeth. The mention of "Region 2" is a reference to {{w|region locking}}, a digital rights management (DRM) scheme intended to restrict media to certain areas. DRM of course does not apply to natural events. But ironically, meteor showers are also geographically restricted, and the visible area might roughly coincide with a DRM region. Further irony is that "Region 2" is actually Europe, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories, meaning that it's not strictly geographical.
*([http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha-beta_centaurids.html real]) Centaurids - February 6th - Too faint to see without going outside
:Since most houses have opaque roofs, it would take a ''very'' bright meteor to be visible without going outside.
*(made-up) Beta Aquariids - February 10th - Inverted shower converges toward Aquarius instead of radiating away
:Due to the geometry of gravity and perspective, meteor showers appear to radiate outwards from a certain point in the sky. Meteor showers may be seen to converge on a point on the opposite side of the sky, but so few meteoroids enter the atmosphere there that it would hardly be notable.
*(made-up) Chelyabids - February 15th - Only one meteor per shower, but it's big.
:A reference to the February 15, 2013, {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor}} whose explosion shattered windows within a large radius.
*({{w|Lyrids|real}}) Lyrids - April 22nd - Meteors sometimes scream
*({{w|Zeta Perseids|real}}) Daytime Zeta Perseids - June 9th - Likely a NASA hoax
:This shower is likely too faint or infrequent for most people to see, and therefore of disputed existence by the overly skeptical.
*({{w|June Bootids|real}}) June Boötids - June 27th - 50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars
:The "50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars" is a joke, as "meteor" and "shooting star" are synonymous.
*({{w|Southern Delta Aquariids|real}}) Southern Delta Aquariids - July 19th - Meteors very bright, but stationary
:This is saying that they are indistinguishable from stars, or that the stars themselves are actually meteors.
*(made-up) Dromaeosaurids - July 22th - Fast, highly intelligent, can open doors
:Dromaeosaurids are dinosaurs belonging to {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, the family containing the genus ''Velociraptor'', well-known from the movie Jurassic Park, and a [[:Category:Velociraptors|popular xkcd-theme]]. When the comic was originally published, the date listed for this shower was June 12th. The main events of Jurassic Park take place on June 11th and 12th.
*({{w|Perseids|real}}) Perseids - August 12th - Instead of falling from sky, meteors erupt from ground
*(made-up) Tau Pyramids - August 15th - Visible even when eyes are closed
:Probably a reference to pyramidal cells, a type of neuron in the brain that is linked to cognition, and to the Tau particle, a heavy sibling of the electron. When they traveled outside of Earth's magnetosphere on their way to the Moon, Apollo astronauts saw flashes of light about every three minutes even with their eyes closed; these were caused by high energy particles (cosmic rays) penetrating their eyes and brain.
*({{w|Draconids|real}}) Draconids - October 8th - Very slow, but follow you if you run
*({{w|Orionids|real}}) Orionids - October 21st - Entire shower happens at once
:As noted in comic [http://xkcd.com/1020/ 1020], the Orion constellation has a 'dong'. Possibly a joke about a "golden" shower. Maybe.
*({{w|Leonids|real}}) Leonids - November 17th - In 1966, unusually active Leonid shower killed God
:There ''was'' a very active Leonid shower. However, it occurred several months after the article ''{{w|Is God Dead?}}'' published in ''Time Magazine'' that year.
*({{w|Geminids|real}}) Geminids - December 13th - Can be deflected with tennis rackets

The title text refers to the folk wisdom that ''lightning'' strikes the tallest thing around. [[Randall]] expressed frustration over how "maddeningly inexact" that statement is, and elaborated on the problem mathematically, on his ''[[what if?]]'' blog, in the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/16/ post on lightning].

==Transcript==
:The xkcd guide to meteor showers
[There is a three-column table]
:; Name - Peak - Notes
:Quadrantids - January 4th - Bring pets inside during peak activity
:Tricuspids - January 21st - Not viewable in region 2 countries
:Centaurids - February 6th - Too faint to see without going outside
:Beta Aquariids - February 10th - Inverted shower converges toward Aquarius instead of radiating away
:Chelyabids - February 15th - Only one meteor per shower, but it's big.
:Lyrids - April 22nd - Meteors sometimes scream
:Daytime Zeta Perseids - June 9th - Likely a NASA hoax
:June Boötids - June 27th - 50/50 mix of meteors and shooting stars
:Southern Delta Aquariids - July 19th - Meteors very bright, but stationary
:Dromaeosaurids - July 22th - Fast, highly intelligent, can open doors
:Perseids - August 12th - Instead of falling from sky, meteors erupt from ground
:Tau Pyramids - August 15th - Visible even when eyes are closed
:Draconids - October 8th - Very slow, but follow you if you run
:Orionids - October 21st - Entire shower happens at once
:Leonids - November 17th - In 1966, unusually active Leonid shower killed God
:Geminids - December 13th - Can be deflected with tennis rackets

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1249: Meteor Showers