Shooting Star

Last Sunday night into early Monday morning marked the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. As many of the readers on etablog Anecdote already know, my other half is a meteor watcher and a bit of a specialist when it comes to the subject.

At around 11:45pm on Sunday night the outlook was bleak. The sky was cloudy making it practically impossible to see anything, let alone meteors. However at about midnight there was a clearing, right where the shower was supposed to originate which gradually got clearer and clearer. So off we went on our bikes, riding into the night. Even before we reached our prime location for meteor gazing, we saw a bright meteor streaking across the black velvety sky backdrop. It was awe-inspiring.

We now felt confident that we would see a decent shower event. In the span of about forty-five minutes we saw approximately forty meteors. Almost one a minute! This shower was the most active one we had experienced all year long. It was superb.

Towards the end of our trip, we saw one meteor that shot its way across the sky in a blaze of glorious light. It looked like the epitome of a shooting star. Indeed we came to appreciate why meteors were given that description many eons ago. It would have been easy to mistake these magnificent events for stars falling from the heavens.

What an experience! One I shall remember for many years to come.