Perseid Meteor Shower!!

So I'm not very smart when it comes to sciencey things. I tried it with science and I was pretty darn good at it during GCSE but when I hit A Level, I managed a C in Biology and scraped a pass in Chemistry AS. So for someone who is interested in how it all works, it's quite frustrating when you don't fully understand it, or can't picture the maths of it all in your mind. Nevertheless, this shall NOT stop me from looking at the stars every night and wanting to know more.

Last night was the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower and the International Space Station orbited above our very heads, glowing in all of it's wonder. Although I missed the ISS sightings, I did manage to catch a few shooting stars. And MY WORD it was all so beautiful! I was sitting out in the back garden with a mug of hot choc, lights off, waiting for a chance of a sighting. I think it was around 1am when I saw the biggest and best shooting star I'd ever seen. It lasted a good 3-4 seconds travelling until it burned out, with a glowing orange trail; quite spectacular! So I made a wish – fingers crossed it comes true!

The ISS taken by my wonderful stepmum
Ann in her garden!

For those unsure of what a shooting star actually is, I learned that it is a piece of cometary debris (or grit) that enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up on arrival. The reason why we can see the Perseid Shower every year is because when the Earth orbits around the sun over 365 days, there comes a point where it enters a belt of cometary grit left by 'Swift-Tuttle', a comet that orbits around the sun over a period of 133 years! (It was apparently last closest to earth in 1992 would you Adam n Eve?!)

So that's that. Learn something new every day!

You can see wonderful pics from last night's Meteor shower here.

I've also been using the 'Night Sky 2' app, which is INCREDIBLE! So basically it uses the location thing on your phone (that's the technical term, I looked it up) and it detects where you are and you can identify the stars above you. And then you can read ALL ABOUT THEM. Exciting stuff. Best 69p I've ever spent. It comes with all spacey music and notifies you every day on the predicted stargazing conditions, so you really get the full experience haha! I love it. Since downloading the app I've been able to identify the Summer Triangle, comprised of the stars 'Vega', 'Deneb' and 'Altair'. Apparently Vega has a planet the size of Neptune orbiting it!

I don't know what it is, I just think it is mind blowing that you look up into the sky at night and realise the vast expanse of our universe. It's something that I just can't quite comprehend. And humans walk around like they're this big-shot creation and the best thing since slice bread, not realising that there is probably something bigger and greater than them out there. How insignificant do you feel now?! haha I'm joking.

But if that has got you down, remember that everything you're made of once came from a star. You are walking star stuff, congrats!

Anyway that's it for today,

Happy stargazing! A Summer's night sky is truly wondrous!

Ashley x