Point of View

A Night with the Geminid's

The Arizona desert was cold. A thermos of coffee and a few blankets would make me comfortable as I chose a remote pathway to view the annual Geminid meteor showers. Each year this meteor shower lights up the sky with colorful streaks and magnificent displays which never fail to amaze me. They are named from the Gemini constellation from which they originate and depending on your location can produce upwards of 120 sightings per hour.
I hiked the trails of the Dreamy Draw, just north of Squaw Peak Mountain, to escape the city lights and laid my blanket out over a natural recliner-like formation of boulders and earth. I made a quick scan of the surrounding terrain to make sure I was “alone” and not in danger of becoming a snake bit victim or sitting on anything “prickly.”  The ground was still damp from our recent rains and the cold ground soon made its way through my blanket as I settled in and orientated myself to the night sky. I had the latest star chart to help with constellation identification, a pair of binoculars, and my coffee. I was set for the big show.
The sky opened into a grand display of sparkle and wonder. My breath clearly visible, taking a sip of coffee while allowing my eyes to adjust to the night sky. Soon, constellations such as Orion and Taurus came into view and I compare their location to my star chart. Mars lights up the eastern horizon, its yellow-orange glow making it easy to spot. Seeing the red planet reminds me of the Mars explorer “Phoenix” which is currently in route to the Martian planet. The probe was designed and built at the University of Arizona and will serve in gathering information on ice formations found in the arctic regions of the planet. Its journey will take approximately 10 months to travel the millions of miles from our planet and is scheduled to reach Mars obit in May 2008.
I was brought back from my Martian day dream by the colorful streak of light that shot across the sky and disappeared behind North Mountain’s peaks. It all happens so fast, yet seems to slow as the meteor does its best to enter our atmosphere. A brilliant battle takes place against our earth and the foreign invaders which result in flashes of greens and blues that pass silently overhead. Some of them make it through earth’s defenses from time-to-time and become meteorites once they impact the ground. The sky was still for most of my visit, having missed the peak performance a few days prior. I counted fifteen separate meteors, some solitary while others traveled in groups, breaking up as they soared across the night sky. A couple of hours of sitting had numbed my backside and forced and early retreat for the warmth of my couch. I gathered my blanket and empty thermos and hiked my way out of the desert, a couple of stray meteors seemingly chasing after me down the rocky path.