'Twin killjoys'

I missed the meteor shower last night, mostly for lack of a vehicle. I did look up into the Abu Dhabi sky around 2 a.m., but all I saw was streetlights.

As it turns out, though, I didn't miss much. As The National's Kareem Shaheen put it,

Campers looking to witness the Perseid meteor showers were disappointed to see the shooting stars they sought mostly blotted out by the twin killjoys of dust and the Moon.

(The story is not yet posted online, but it probably will be by the time the United States wakes up.)

Too bad. I have seen shooting stars, but never a whole sky full of them. If you didn't know what they were, what kind of an impression would they leave?

The big ones, of course, would leave craters.

Ah, well--they'll be back next year. The comet itself, unfortunately, won't make another appearance until 2126.