The vision of a darkened sky alive with sparkling stars is, often, among the earliest encounters we have with dear old Mother Nature. I remember, as a child, lying on the hood of the car with my Mom and older sister, staring up in awe and disbelief at the especially glittery sky at my grandparents’ farm. Here, far away from city street lamps and high-rises, the sky was ours to drink in at will.
And, all these years later, I continue to stare with the same awe and disbelief at every opportunity. That’s why I was standing on the porch at my aunt’s place on the evening of July 31 instead of being inside the cosy house. I had spent a long time staring at that clear, dark sky, trying to recognize what few constellations I know on sight, and generally just admiring.
I had just barely turned my head to go in, when I could see something bright out of the corner of my eye. Momentarily dismissing it as a yard light I started to go, when I became aware it was becoming more intense and was much too bright for this time of night. I looked up just in time to see a bright spot of light in the sky, like a star, except it was growing brighter, throbbing and swelling. Then, before I could move, it shrunk, faded and suddenly disappeared completely.
What had I just seen?
I thought of the Space Station or some other satellite, but Auntie, who was sitting on her computer at that moment, looked it up and said nothing was scheduled to go over just then. Besides, if anything dramatic had happened surely we would have heard of it on the news.
I wondered about a supernova, but I just read yesterday that such events visible from Earth are exceedingly rare, with only about three in recorded history. Not very likely, then.
I had nearly dismissed it completely as space trash or something, when I came up with a bright idea. I googled “Celestial Events” for this year and guess what I found out?
Ever heard of the Perseids Meteor Shower? Well, you’re gonna, because it’s happening right over your head and I believe that’s exactly what I saw.
It’s called that because it appears around the area of the --- constellation, but the meteors, according to a short NASA video posted on YouTube; originate from a passing comet called Swift-Tuttle which passes by every 133 years.. It will be its closest toward the 11th, 12th and 13th of August or so.
Ah, but meteors tend to shoot across the sky, don’t they? And this one was a glowing spot. Also according to the same video, some of the bigger chunks burn up so brutally when they enter the atmosphere that they turn into to very bright glowing fireballs.
So, keep your eyes open!
P.S. I just found out at this web site that there are two meteor showers going on that could overlap a bit! Double your chances!
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