martinzoo

Did you get to see it?

The Perseid Meteor shower?

We got blankets and pillows and lay on the deck with our binoculars.

We went out pretty early, by prime viewing standards (It was supposed to peak at 1:00 a.m.). We started watching the Eastern sky around 10:00 p.m. But we were NOT disappointed at all. We expected, after reading this site, to see something about every 5-10 minutes, and we did. Some of them were really bright with long tails, and really excited us. Others were very faint and just skimmed across the sky. These are what they call Perseid Earthgrazers.

I found this video on Youtube. It’s pretty good, but some of the ones we saw were better. I just know I could have never captured any on film. I gotta give this guy his props!

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is nowhere near Earth, the comet’s tail does intersect Earth’s orbit. We glide through it every year in August. Tiny bits of comet dust hit Earth’s atmosphere traveling 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a smidgen of dust makes a vivid streak of light–a meteor–when it disintegrates. Because Swift-Tuttle’s meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus, they are called “Perseids.”

Aquagirl has declared GB to be the corniest kid she has ever met. Because at one point, when she was impatient for the next meteor, he said he didn’t care if he saw any, because it was just nice to lay on the deck, looking at the sky, and listening to the frogs and crickets. That’s my boy! You gotta love a kid like that!

We decided that laying outside, watching the sky, and getting such a great show for two hours, was like watching the God Channel. And we won’t be getting a bill from Comcast for it, either! Ha!