Catch a Falling Star...

 

... and put it in your pocket...

If you said, "Perry Como, 1957," you are probably old enough to be eligible for Medicare, and you get 40 bonus points.

I have been looking at the night sky every night since last week, hoping to catch a glimpse of a meteor, aka: a falling star (misnomer).  The Lyrid Meteor Showers were to peak on the evening of Monday, April 21st.  Monday and Tuesday nights were particular crisp nights.  No, I did not see a single meteor.

But, last night (Wednesday, the 23rd)... yep, I saw one!  One.  Astronomers were saying you might see as many as 20 per hour.  And, finally, I saw... one.  Surprising, because the sky wasn't crisp.  Oh, you could see plenty of stars, but the sky wasn't as black as the earlier nights and the stars not as bright.  Maybe enough breeze to stir up dust in the air?

But, after all that time looking, I was happy to have seen that one.  If you are keeping track, it was to the west, just a bit south of Procyon (if you are into astronomy).  And if you aren't into astronomy, Procyon is also known as Alpha Canis Minoris, and is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor and the eighth-brightest star in the night sky.  Not to the northeast sky as had been suggested.

That is not my image and is not exactly what I saw (not as many stars that you could see); it's a file image to give you an idea of what a meteor will look like.  What I saw wasn't that bright and it only lasted a very brief moment.  But, finally!

I will reminisce for a moment: back in our sailing days, we were in a dark area with very little light pollution.  Laying out on the nets on our Corsair trimaran, we saw dozens of meteors during meteor shower that night.  Odds are pretty good we won't be treated to a sight like that again.

Still, I am happy to have seen this one last night.