One interesting fact I have learnt is that the word “meteor” doesn’t actually refer to the object, but rather the event. In the same way that scoring a goal in football (soccer) or hitting a homerun in American baseball, where the words “goal” and “homerun” refer to sequence of actions required to score the goal or hit the homerun.

So the word meteor would entail the entire path of the meteoroid entering our atmosphere from outer space. The word meteoroid refers to the particle itself.

The best time to see meteors is in the pre-dawn hours before the peak. So this week’s anecdote starts on a rather chilly Tuesday morning. We trundled off on our bikes looking for somewhere dark enough to get a good view of the show. We found a little spot and waited with baited breath. After a few minutes we saw the first of several that would grace our presence that morning. They tumbled out of the sky like falling stars, hurtling to certain death. It was magnificent.

The next show to be put on by our space friends will be this December and I can’t wait for the curtain to go up.