Posted by Suzanne Lilly
Wednesday, my husband and I were enjoying the evening breeze and chatting, when we heard a loud boom. I thought something had hit our garage door. My husband thought it might have been a sonic boom.
We saw our neighbor come out into her front yard, and asked, "Did you hear that?" She hadn't heard anything, but her great-grandkids were playing in her house, so she thought it might have been them hitting a ball against the wall.
It turned out the sound was a sonic boom. However, it wasn't caused by an airplane whizzing by or Felix Baumgartner falling from the sky. The Orionid Meteor Shower is streaking across the night sky, and the fireballs are causing sonic booms as they break the sound barrier entering our atmosphere.
It's an amazing sight. The sky lights up as the meteorites flash and burn. We'll be able to enjoy the astral spectacle until Sunday morning. I highly recommend going outside and enjoying the view. Here's a bit more information about the Orionid in this video from NASA.
Although I'm not much of an astronomer, I do enjoy star-gazing and moon-gazing, as you might have guessed from my post about the Autumn Equinox and the Harvest Moon. The night sky is so lovely, and the seasonal changes are a delight to watch. It's part of what inspired the scene for the first kiss between Aspen and Colton in my upcoming Honey Creek Book, Untellable. They're stargazing at the lake, when one thing leads to another.
This meteor shower will last through the weekend, so my husband and I have planned some wine and stargazing dates of our own. I can't think of a more relaxing way to spend a Saturday night.
Enjoy!
Update 10/22/12
In the news today was an article about a home in Novato, California, that was struck by one of the meteorites from this meteor shower. I thought it was interesting enough to add to this post. Now that's something to write a story about!
I would love to watch, but Holland is hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, day and night, so little use trying to see anything. But if it clears up tonight, I will for sure go out for a while.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it's already cold here. I do love looking up at the starry sky when I walk the dog, though. So peaceful and beautiful and it makes me feel small in a good way.
ReplyDeleteI dislike stargazing when it's cold out, too. Summertime is perfect for me, but it seems the best star shows are in the colder months. I'm bundled up to head out again for a few minutes. I hope you both get a view of some of the meteorites tonight!
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