BY THE NUMBERS

By The Numbers, a look at what’s in the news . . . by the numbers. These are just numbers, not suggestions that they mean more or less than what they are. We do not suggest that one number is connected to another. These are simply facts with no extraneous details, bias or slanted reporting. To borrow (and perhaps mangle a bit) a quote from legendary fictional detective Joe Friday, it’s just the numbers, ma’am!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No silly. It’s meteors. Lots and lots of meteors. On this date in 1609, the noted Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers. See, even back then the government had its hands in everything. Galileo used his telescope to see the stars of the Milky Way, the phases of Venus, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, Saturn’s rings, lunar craters and sunspots.  In honor of his achievement, we’re going to take a look skyward today and see what is in store in the heavens for the rest of this year . . . by the numbers!

37

A meteor from the Perseid meteor shower moves at about 37 miles a second. And yes, even though the Perseids hit their peak earlier this month, stargazers can still reasonably expect to see a few stragglers.

20

The next shower comes from the Orionids. It begins in late September and runs for almost two months. The peak should come on Oct. 20-21 when you can – depending on the conditions – see about 20 meteors per hour.

10-8-25

On Oct. 8, the Draconids should be at their peak. This is a northern hemisphere shower named after the constellation Draco. They should begin Oct. 6 and last until Oct. 10. If you are lucky, you can see perhaps 10 an hour.

10-21-25

That’s the peak for the Orionids shower. It starts the first of the month and runs until about Nov. 7. They got their name because they appear to come from the constellation . . . you guessed it, Orion! Anyone remember what movie Orion’s Belt was a prominent clue? Remember Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men In Black!

77

Galileo lived to the ripe of age of 77! He passed away on Jan. 6.

1,600,000

According to oddsmakers, your chance of being struck by a meteor is about 1 in 1.6 million! On the other hand, your odds of being struck by lightning is about 1 in 15,300.

1957

That’s the year Perry Como sang Catch a Falling Star and Put it in Your Pocket. Remember that one? If so, better save it for a rainy day!