Ear to the ground:
“It’s beginning to feel like the ‘f’ word out there.”
– Local commentary on the unmistakable changing of the seasons in Durango
“It’s beginning to feel like the ‘f’ word out there.”
– Local commentary on the unmistakable changing of the seasons in Durango
The sky is falling
Night owls and star-gazers take note, this year’s annual Perseid meteor shower is promising to be a good one.
Night owls and star-gazers take note, this year’s annual Perseid meteor shower is promising to be a good one.
Mother Nature’s annual laser show is slated to pass over Colorado Aug. 10-13 with peak viewing during the early morning hours of Mon., Aug. 12, according to the CU planetarium in Boulder. “The moon will be nearly new, so it’s an especially good time to see the meteor shower,” said CU astrophysicist Doug Duncan. “A dark sky makes a big difference. In the mountains, where the sky is really dark, you could see 50 or more per hour.”
Meteor showers occur when the Earth crosses the path of a comet, sweeping through millions of rice-sized pieces of debris left behind in its tail. The chunks of space debris, hurtling at a comfy 36,000 miles an hour, are only seen as meteors when they get caught in Earth’s gravity and burn up in the atmosphere.
The Perseid is caused by the Earth passing through the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle and is named for the Perseus constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate.
The showers will be most visible midnight each night during the peak dates. Duncan, who spent four years as a science commentator for National Public Radio station WBEZ in Chicago, used an analogy to explain why this is.
“Think of the meteors as bugs and the sky as the windshield of a car. After midnight, our night sky will be facing ‘forward,’ in the same direction the Earth orbits around the sun. As a result, after midnight we see a lot more ‘bugs’ hitting our ‘windshield.'"
Making room for Froome
The gauntlet has been thrown down. The much-feared yellow jersey will be joining the 127 other riders at the start line at this year’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
The gauntlet has been thrown down. The much-feared yellow jersey will be joining the 127 other riders at the start line at this year’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
Tour de France winner Chris Froome, of Great Britain, confirmed this week that he will be in the peloton at this year’s tour of the Colorado Rockies along with his Sky Procycling teammates. Joining Froome will be fellow Tour rider (considered No. 2 in the world), Sprint Jersey Winner Peter Sagan (SLO) of Cannondale Pro Cycling.
This year’s lineup for the race, now in its third year, marks one of the best pro fields ever assembled on American soil, according to race organizers. “Chris Froome swept headlines last month after winning the Tour de France and to have him on the start line for the USA Pro Challenge will be amazing,” Shawn Hunter, CEO of the USA Pro Challenge, said.
The USA Pro Challenge starts Aug. 19 in Aspen, and finishes in Denver on Aug. 25.