Skygazing Spectacular: Accuracy Meteor Showers
It’s time to begin our competition with Accuracy Happy Hours, so let’s celebrate by setting off some shooting stars! Meteor showers are some of the more reliable celestial phenomena that can be witnessed on Earth, occurring in nearly every month of the calendar year. To find a meteor shower coming soon to a sky near you, you can check out this comprehensive list.
Meteor showers are created by debris left behind by comets. When the Earth passes through the comet’s path, the comet bits burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, creating the streaks of light we colloquially know as “shooting stars.” Most comet debris is quiet small, ranging from grain of sand to pebble sized.
Meteor showers are are named after stars that are nearby to the point from which they appear to radiate. One of the most famous (and most viewed) meteor showers are the Perseids, named for the Perseus constellation. These meteors were created by the Swift-Tuttle comet, and can be seen from earth every August. This year’s meteor shower will peak on the mornings of August 11, 12 and 13. Between midnight and dawn are the best viewing times!
If you can wait a little longer, the Perseids are expected to put on an even bigger show in 2028, as the Earth is predicted to pass close to a stream of debris left by Swift-Tuttle’s passage in 1479. Scientists have predicted 200+ meteors per hour to be rain down during this shower!
The Leonids are another meteor shower to look out for. The comet Tempel-Tuttle, which has a short orbit around the sun of about 33 years, can create spectacular meteor storms during these ~33 year intervals. The 1966 Leonids treated audience to thousands of meteors per minute! The last Leonid storm was in 2002, so we’re due for another one in the mid 3030s.
It certainly takes some patience to wait for these big sky shows, but to tide you over you can experience another fun event quite soon! Put those accuracy skills to the test as you trace for badges, bonuses, and glory! All times ET:
Session 1 – 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM on 5/23
Session 2 – 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on 5/24
Session 3 – 10:00 PM to midnight on 5/24
HQ will bestow typical Happy Hour bonuses for your work during each of those time frames, but there’s more than that to earn! Check your in-game notifications to see the full accuracy bonus breakdown.
Mentors: You are still allowed to mentor people during these time windows. Please just use your best judgment as to whether someone is asking you for basic newbie help vs. trying to have you boost their accuracy on cube after cube.
Scythes: Please avoid scything during these time windows. Even though accuracy for this will be retroactively calculated, we would prefer to go with accuracy based on players’ raw tracing. By the time this challenge is scored, don’t worry, admins will have corrected consensus as needed.
