I read today that a meteor shower was on the horizon tonight. I remember being a little kid when my Dad would bring out a telescope and we would try to find constellations or planets that were in view. I don't think we knew what the hell we were doing, but I fell in love with the night sky then. Staring up at a cloudless night covered in tiny dazzling spots, sets me in a calm and peaceful place that I have not found elsewhere. The Lake is my usual place to witness this, so for this display I had to improvise. I live in the city, so there was no chance of viewing this magnificent spectacle from my back porch. I tried to google "where to watch the meteor shower indianapolis" but it didn't turn up any results. I headed over to a local park at 12:30am. I was the only car there. Was no one else crazy enough to go see this thing? Guess not.
The Orionid meteors are created by a band of small particles that circle through the solar system in the orbit of Halley's comet. Armed with a flashlight, knife and my car keys, I found a dry spot in the park and waited for the show. It didn't take long. I spied 4 meteors in just 20 minutes. And yes they were meteors and not a side effect of the LASIK. Sitting there in the pitch dark by yourself is scary. I didn't want to become an episode of CSI, so I left happy getting to witness what I was able to. It seems next month astronomers expect Earth to pass through a clump of material left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which might boost the annual Leonid meteor shower to produce as many as 500 meteors an hour. I'll try and find a meteor buddy for that show and maybe last a little longer in the dark.
If you've never seen anything like this, I highly recommend it. Space is such a vast unknown and being a part of something like this makes me feel somewhat insignificant in the big picture of the world, but I like that.
Recent Comments