Keep Your Eye on the Sky!

After my sister heard that there was going to be a meteor shower (the Eta Aquaids) this morning May 5, 2008 we decided to get up at 4:30 A.M. and see if we could see any "falling stars" as they are commonly called. :) I've heard that this particular meteor shower occurs annually as the Earth is crossing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet. We were rewarded by a spectacular show of meteors. We were able to see from around 15-25 in a hour and a half. It was amazing! :) Having never seen a meteor shower before, it was a neat experience, and besides that the stars were beautiful and bright!! :) The heavens truly do declare the glory of God! The meteor shower will also be visible on Tuesday May 6th before dawn, though I believe last night was the peak night.

A meteor (possibly 2) and Milky way, Photo from Wikipedia

A meteor shower, some of which are known as a "meteor storm" or "meteor outburst", is a celestial event where a group of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the sky. These meteors are small fragments of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed. They vaporize due to friction with the air, leaving a streak of light that very quickly disappears. For bodies with a size scale larger than the atmospheric mean free path (10 cm to several metres) this visible light is due to the heat produced by the ram pressure (not friction, as is commonly assumed) of atmospheric entry. Most of the small fragments of cosmic debris are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all fragments disintegrate and never hit the earth's surface. Fragments which do contact Earth's surface are called meteorites. -Taken from Wikipedia

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1