November 13, 2013 8:20 pm

What To Do Instead Of Not Watching The Leonids This Weekend

Curse you, Full Moon!

First, you make it virtually impossible to see the Orionids last month, even though for once we had clear skies.

And now, this weekend, you plan to fill our skies with reflected light (it’s not even your own light, for Sol’s sake!) and obscure all but the brightest of the Leonid meteors.

For those of you who are still going to go outside and try, here’s the briefing:

Best times: between midnight and dawn, the night of November 16 into the morning of November 17, and then again the same time November 17-18.

Where to Look: The Leonids radiate from the constellation Leo. But according to this excellent article on Earthsky.org, you don’t need to look there to see the meteors. In fact, “meteors often don’t become visible until they are 30 degrees or so from their radiant point… Thus the Leonid meteors – like meteors in all annual showers – will appear in all parts of the sky.”

 

What To Do Instead This Weekend

Instead of railing against fate and the man in the moon, why not do something constructive this weekend: Vote in our Season 4 Time Capsule Poll.

As some of you may know, every year we put together an episode at the end of our season brimming with the best segments from that season’s shows. And we ask you to vote for your favorite episodes, guests, and co-hosts to help us decide what to include.

This year you’ll get to vote on guests including astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Mike Massimino, celebrities Joe Rogan, Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Bourdain and Alan Rickman, and scientists Dr. David Grinspoon and Dr. Adam Sobel, among many more. Pick your favorite episodes, from StarTalk Live! Satisfying our Curiosity about Mars to Zombie Apocalypse!

Of course, there’s the annual battle for most popular comic co-host. Will the legions of Eugene Mirman fans win again, or will Team Chuck Nice dethrone the champ? Maybe Kristen Schaal or Leighann Lord will sneak in and steal the crown.

Voting ends at 11:59 PM ET Saturday, November 16 – just in time for you to wander outside, look up, and see the full moon drowning out the lovely Leonids with its stolen limelight.

Vote for your Season 4 fan favorites here.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!

–Jeffrey Simons