Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I forgot to make a wish

Perseid Meteor

Last night, the family and I went out in the country (away from the pollution of city lights) to catch a glimpse of some of the shooting stars in the Perseid meteor shower. Apparently it peaked Sunday night after midnight, but it was rainy here so we missed out. NASA had predicted 60-100 shots per hour at its peak. Guess we missed that.

We were out between 9:30 and 10:30 while the kids were falling asleep on the ground listening to the songs of insects and birds and telling each other stories. I saw only one meteor, but it was gorgeous. It lasted about 3 seconds with a long, bright orange tail. I was disappointed that was the only one I saw, but it was pretty cool to see even one. I know it's an annual event and that there are other showers as well that, if I made the effort, might reveal a few more displays, but it's just not something that I've done recently. Had a little bit of "hey - the world's kinda big" thoughts going on last night watching all the stars and stuff. That and a little "hey - there's a lot of air traffic up there in the sky" as well...

One other celestial display I'd like to catch in the future is the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.

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