shooting stars

Fair Warning – Day 978

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Stars – Photo: L. Weikel

Fair Warning

After writing 977 consecutive posts for public consumption, I notice a couple idiosyncracies about myself. For instance, I realize I just might have a few ‘go-to’ topics that consistently pique my interest. With this in mind, I consider it a service that I provide you with ‘fair warning’ this evening of the approach of an event that’s one of my favorite experiences of the summer – every summer.

The Perseids Are Coming

Yes! I’m a big fan of so-called ‘shooting stars.’ My favorites are the Perseids. And actually – technically – they’re here already. Even more accurately, the Earth started passing through the debris-filled tail of comet 109PSwift-Tuttle on July 14th and will continue to do so from now until August 24th.

The most active evenings for maximum oohs and aahs as we stare into the cosmos will be the nights of August 12th-13th. There’s a chance we could witness 100 ‘shooting stars’ per hour at the peak of the Perseids. And lucky for us, the moon will only be waxing at that time – so her brightness shouldn’t drown out our ability to catch them streaking across the sky.

My reason for writing about them tonight is two-fold: First, there’s a good chance you’ll see some (maybe one or two – possibly more) brilliant streaks across the sky if you look up tonight. And knowing when and where to look is a major factor to meeting success! Second, it’s helpful to cultivate a love of star-walking in the evening now. That way, by the time the most active evenings arrive, you’ll have a routine in place and be able to jump right in (or lay right down) to enjoy the show.

Personal Sweetness

The Perseids are also my favorite light show because they always peak on our son Karl’s birthday. Even before he was a glint in my eye, I knew these particular meteor showers would always hold special significance to me when I watched them from the beach of an island off the coast of the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia). I was only 18 then, but the magic of that entire experience will never leave my bones.

I see that I’ve waxed rhapsodic over my beloved Perseids for two years now (of course), here, here, and here. It’s doubtful I’ll ever stop writing about them and the effect they have on my sense of place in the Universe. Extolling the benefits of immersing ourselves in one-on-one encounters with the natural world feels like one of the best ways I can honor the memory of my son.

If you haven’t yet given yourself the experience of witnessing miniscule particles streaking through our atmosphere and creating fireballs of light that generate spontaneous gasps of delight, it’s time. There’s something both profoundly inspiring and humbling to realize tiny specks of dust can create huge fireballs blazing across the sky. Doesn’t it make you wonder even for a moment what we might be capable of creating?

It’s moments like these that have the potential to remain in our hearts long after the television shows, card games, and movies have long since faded into oblivion.

Practice. Get ready. They’ll be here in droves by mid-August.

Photo: travelandleisure.com

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Streaking Weekend – Day 761

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Cloud Raptor Soaring – Photo: L. Weikel

Streaking Weekend

If you read my post from last night that tracked my failed attempt to glimpse the aurora borealis way down here at 40.4 degrees latitude, you know that the bright spot of that effort was definitely the three meteors I saw streaking through the sky instead. They were quite lovely and long-lasting (as far as shooting stars go), and really did feel like a wonderful consolation prize. The best news, though? We all need to get ready for a streaking weekend.

Lucky for me, a friend and faithful reader of my 1111 Devotion project, Paula, commented on one of my Facebook pages* about the shooting stars I mentioned. She alerted me to the fact that they’re the Geminids.

Shocked

I was shocked. What?! Me, little Miss Celestial Event Broadcaster missed an opportunity to view and recommend a cavalcade of shooting stars? I knew the name Geminids sounded familiar. Surely I must have written about them before?

A quick search of my posts revealed that yes, I had indeed written about the Geminids only seven short weeks ago. Of course, I had to laugh – the post itself was about my foiled effort to view the Orionids back on the evening of October 20th. I may not have seen any meteors that evening, but my research indicated the Geminids should be the best in show of 2020.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I literally recommended we all mark our calendars for December 13th and 14th, which would be the peek evenings to catch sight of these frequent and flashy sky streaks. And then I promptly forgot to do so.

So, hurray for Paula, for identifying the origin of my three gifts last night – and thereby reminding us all of the even more spectacular opportunity to witness the Geminids this weekend.

A Great Show

If I saw three shootings stars three nights before the event’s peek, just imagine how great they’ll be on Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday evening. I see from this article that they could even streak in different colors!

The particular attribute that I noticed most last night was that they weren’t just quick blips that left me wondering if I’d actually seen them or not. No, they were good, solid arcs across the sky. Brilliant and decently sized as well.

Barring any dreaded cloud cover, the conditions to enjoy the Geminids will be approaching perfection, with the moon being new and thus dark, as opposed to the brilliance of a full moon drowning out the light of the stars. But of course, it’s the potential for cloud cover that so often ruins these otherwise deliciously ripe moments.

Fair Warning

As soon as I post this tonight, I’m going to take a little zip out to see if I can catch a few more streaks before bed this evening. I’m doing this mostly because I just checked The Weather Channel app and it looks like both tomorrow and Sunday night may be hampered somewhat by clouds. But hey, maybe we’ll get lucky. Monday night, however, looks like it could end up being the best night of all.

Finally

Jupiter is continuing to do its best to catch up to Saturn, which again, will culminate on December 21st. Compare their location this evening to that of a few days ago and you can really see the difference.

Saturn (left) and Jupiter, nearing conjunction – Photo: L. Weikel

*I share my blog posts on both of my Facebook pages – Owl Medicine and Owl Medicine Shamanic Healing – as well as on my personal page. If you ever notice a morning when my post hasn’t been delivered to your inbox, check on FB. You can always find it there – and often with even more photos than the email version.

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Aurora Borealis Nullius – Day 760

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Aurora Borealis Nullius – Photo: L. Weikel

Aurora Borealis Nullius

For the past couple of days I’ve noticed the articles peppering Facebook, Huffpost, and other information outlets ginning up the prospect of seeing the aurora borealis play across the sky all the way down here in Pennsylvania. This expanded engagement was expected due to some more powerful than usual solar ejections from the sun’s surface. Alas, in spite of the breathtaking clarity of the night sky tonight, I have to declare my experience as aurora borealis nullius.

Nope. As can be seen from the photo above, there was some lightening at the northern horizon, but try as I might, I could not talk myself into thinking it was even the remotest form of the northern lights. But I took a photo anyway because, well…you guys!

I’ll admit it. I’m disappointed. I went out on my porch last night and gave a cursory glance toward the north, but there was some cloud cover, so I didn’t bother to trek to my favorite stargazing haunts. Tonight, though? Oh…I was psyched.

As soon as I stepped outside this evening, I could tell it was a perfect night for communing with the cosmos. Stars were everywhere and so clearly visible. I didn’t even put on my coat – I grabbed my keys, hopped in my car, and took off for my first favorite star-haunt. (The place I was when we heard the coyotes this summer.)

Constellations

Although the lightening of the atmosphere along the northern horizon was not, to my knowledge, related to the aurora borealis, I did managed to take some photos of the simply stunning array of celestial bodies splashed from one horizon to the other, arcing over my head.

Below you can see the Pleiades, a cluster of seven stars that look like a smudge in the sky.

The other shot, even further below, is of the constellation Orion, with the ‘Dog Star,’ Sirius, shining brightly to the lower left of the three obvious main stars of Orion’s belt.

Pleiades 1/4 from top, just left of center – Perseus and Alpha Persei Cluster to the right – Photo: L. Weikel

Unexpected Treat

While I was trying to capture the vast expanse of the night sky to share it with all of you, I was surprised by a meteor shooting across the expanse. What a delight! How many times have I traveled to that very same spot over the past several months to get a glimpse of some meteor shower or another, only to be disappointed?

After a few minutes, I decided to drive to my other favorite celestial appreciation spot. On my way, a rather substantial, clearly well-nourished raccoon swiftly trundled across the road in front of me. Only forty yards further down the road, a doe ambled across as well. I felt kissed by their presence and thanked them for allowing me to be in their domain at a time of night when humans just shouldn’t be trespassing.

Arriving at my ‘Other Favorite Spot,’ I again turned off my car and quenched all extraneous lights. With hope in my heart, I gazed all about, craning my neck in awe of the vastness all around me. Nope. Not a colorful wave in sight. (And I’ve seen them before, both when I lived in Sweden and when we lived in Buffalo, so I’d recognize their magical dance.)

But as consolation prize, I was treated to not one but two more shooting stars! They say good things arrive in threes, so I designate this a banner evening.

Once I got home, I checked online and discovered that, indeed, the likelihood of seeing the lights this far south had been downgraded earlier this evening. This definitely turned into an aurora borealis nullius!

Constellation of Orion, slightly right of center, 2/3 down, with Sirius left of center just up from the bottom – Photo: L. Weikel

 

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Behold the Delta Aquariids!   – Day 259

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Aquariids 2019 – Photo: abc7.com

Behold the Delta Aquariids!                                                          

I love learning about stuff. And until yesterday or the day before, I don’t think I’d ever heard of the Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower before.

I’ve been a devotee of the Perseids for decades and decades – pretty much all my life, to be honest.

Perseids or Aquariids?

I remember going down the cliff to the beach at the Cape, where the expansiveness of the sky was the greatest (notwithstanding Nauset’s “I-Love-You” light sweeping across the ocean and then across the scrub pines near the cottage). Yes, I remember the odd sensation of the sand of both the cliff and the beach feeling cool between my toes, even as I could dig them deeper to reach some residual warmth that had baked in a little below the surface.

But the Perseids usually peak in August (right around both Karls’ birthdays). It’s been a family ritual to jump into the car and drive about a mile from our house so we could lay out in a field to get the widest possible view of the entire sky. All my guys have indulged me in my delight at witnessing meteor showers and other astronomical events. They’re among my most treasured memories.

forbes.com

A Little More on the Aquariids

So I find it a little weird that I’ve never heard of the Delta Aquariids. They’ve been falling (meaning we’ve been passing through the debris of the MachHolz Comet) since approximately July 13thand will last until August 28th. The best opportunity to see the greatest number of ‘shooting stars’ (although obviously, technically, they are neither shooting nor stars – discuss), though, is tonight and probably tomorrow night, when there will be the most particles entering our atmosphere and the sky will be darker longer because it is a “new moon.”

And…Capricornids?!?

Apparently we’re in for ‘dueling’ meteor showers this year. If you follow the tail of each meteor you see, you can use your Sky Guide app to figure out where it originated. That’s one way to identify if it was one of the Aquariids, Capricornids, or Perseids.

I’m happy to report that I’ve already seen two gorgeous, surprisingly slow-moving arcs of light travel across the sky tonight. And there’s been an added lightning show taking place in the northern sky as well, which is a little off-putting, since there are no clouds in the sky.

My sightings this evening were actually quite a surprise. Everything I’ve read recently has recommended that you go outside and look up around midnight, so I was definitely looking up simply because I was outside!

One More Immersion Into the Night Sky

As soon as I publish this post, I’m going to go outside one more time to see what I can see.

As I’ve mentioned before in my various posts about eclipses and things, I adore witnessing natural phenomena.  And as I lay on my back staring up at the sky tonight, I felt that sense of being such a teeny, tiny part of a vast and virtually limitless Universe.

I am in awe.

So I strongly urge you to turn out all your outdoor lights right now and venture outside. Unless, of course, you’re reading this Monday morning, in which case set your alarm and go out this evening at around midnight. You’ll be glad you did!

(T-852)