Finally, A Meteor Shower!

Yes! After years of missing the Perseid meteors, I finally made a date and kept it!

My husband and I napped in the evening. At dusk, he went out and laid a tarp in the front yard, inflated the air mattress, and made popcorn. We went outside at 11 PM and stayed only until 1 AM even though the peak of the shower was due at 3 AM. (SkyandTelescope.com tells us that meteors did reach 70-80 an hour last night—more than one a minute.) Although we saw fewer meteors than we could have, the really bright ones made the effort worthwhile.

The Perseids continue for a few more days, so you can still get in on the show. The later at night the better.

Because we're surrounded with trees, we see only about 100º arc of the sky. This photo (not ours) is a little bit like our view. But that is okay because the meteors go all over the sky. Some were bright enough to leave a colored trail. Some were very faint. Some flew super fast, and some slower.

The Perseids appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, whose name means The Breaker. Psalm 2:9 prophesies that Messiah will break His enemies: "You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel."

Of the larger meteor showers, nearly all radiate from constellations whose figures portray Messiah's glory: Boötes, Lyra, Aquarius, Orion, Leo, Gemini.

I'm already looking forward to the Orionids (October), the Leonids (November), and the Geminids (December). Last year we had clouds every time, but I hope that this year we'll have a clear night for at least one.