Blinking Cassiopeia

Three times this evening I went outside very briefly, and all three time I saw a meteor shoot across the sky. How pretty and what a nice coincidence. I know there are lots of not very famous meteor showers but I really couldn't say that there was a radiant to these three.

Anyhow, after the Red Sox game I went out again just to look up.  So I wasn't dark adapted at all and Cassiopeia was gone. Drat, clouds I guess. So I looked away and she blinked back on with averted vision. I could stare at her and she'd disappear, and then I'd look away and I could see all five stars. What fun!

The explanation? The sky condition and my tiny pupils combined to make an interesting sweet spot, just enough light to see with averted vision, not enough light to see direct.

And yes, a few minutes later I could look directly at her ad there it was.

And the curious part, I never saw the Milky Way disappear. Oh. clearly it must have been gone in the spots I was looking directly at, but since I was focused on the stars, not the background glow, it seemed as if the Milky Way was a constant brightness.