Geminids Meteor Shower

Did you see the meteor shower this weekend? I went out around 10ish last night for a few minutes to see what I could see. Ah, the joys of country living! The sky was clear, the air was cold, still and thankfully not freezing. After only a few minutes and a few meteors I went in to get the Husband and Father-in-law.

I think we stayed out for maybe half an hour. I put on my brave-pants and laid down on the driveway. We all saw maybe a dozen or so meteor, each time yelling and pointing "There's one" with the wonder of children! Red nosed, and rosy-cheeked we came back in and watched Step Brothers. Mother-in-Law came to visit and she got to see a flood, Father-in-law came and he got to see meteors.

Nasa says "Geminids are pieces of debris from an object called 3200 Phaethon. Long thought to be an asteroid, Phaethon is now classified as an extinct comet. Basically it is the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun. Earth runs into a stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December, causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini. When the Geminids first appeared in the early 19th century, shortly before the U.S. Civil War, the shower was weak and attracted little attention. There was no hint that it would ever become a major display." 

The more I think about it, the more I am so grateful that my kids will get to grow up in the country. They'll get to lie in the grass and watch the stars, see the constellations, and meteors while coyotes howl in the background. You just don't get that in the city. Whilst I know they will complain and may not appreciate it until they're grown. They'll have a great childhood filled with rosy-cheeks, shooting stars, bon fires and grass stained knees.

I wonder what other cool-space stuff we've missed that we'll now be able to see?