I live in New York City and it's a well known fact that we don't really see a lot of stars here. The night sky usually stays pretty bright thanks to all of the city lights around here. But I didn't grow up here, so I have very pretty memories of looking up at the sky and seeing a million stars. My mom still talks about how beautiful the sky was in Cuba and I am always making sure to look up whenever I am visiting them in Florida or happen to find myself in a not-so-crowded city where stars are actually visible. The one thing that I'll really be missing out on because of my lack of night sky visibility is seeing a shooting star. I've always wanted to see one and now anyone will be able to see a ton of them thanks to a meteor shower on Saturday, April 21st.
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If you go outside after midnight, you're going to be able to see the Lyrid meteor shower and actually experience what it's like to see the sky falling. Don't you want to share this beautiful cosmological event with your kids? I know I sure do! ABC News explains what's actually going to be happening:
Every year at this time, the Earth passes through the orbit of an old comet called Thatcher, and the result is a meteor shower — shooting stars, usually about 10 to 20 per hour, streaking across the night sky as debris from the comet enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up.
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Doesn't that sound amazing? I'm planning to at least sneak a peek outside, hoping beyond hope that I'll at least be able to see one or two. Maybe I can convince the mayor of NYC to turn off all the lights, just so that we can see the beauty? Well, maybe not. But you should take advantage for sure. Grab a blanket and curl up outside with your family, watching the night sky light up with shooting stars. You won't regret it.
Have you ever seen a shooting star?
Image via retro traveler/flickr
