This first weekend of November, 2012, offers a meteor shower, although moonlight will interfere. The South Taurid meteors are expected to be at their best late night on Sunday, November 4 and after midnight on Monday, November 5. But we’ve already been hearing from people who say they’ve seen meteors, or shooting stars, streaking along in dark skies. Watch for them if you’re outside.Last night, I saw a large shooting star, gold mixed with other colors as it burned out, one of the nicest I can remember. The meteor had a definite ball on the end, and though it was there and gone in the blink of an eye, I didn't blink, and it was lovely to see. I looked around for pictures, but I found none to match my shooting star, which moved in an arc as it petered out. Here we have so much light pollution that we see only a very few stars, so the meteor really stood out against the dark sky. So swept away was I by the magical moment that I forgot to make a wish.
When I was a child, we spread a blanket in the back yard and lay down to watch the meteor showers when we knew they were coming, but there was less light then, even in the city, and, here and now, we don't see nearly the number of stars and meteors we saw those many years ago.
UPDATE: Good thing I saw my shooting star last night, because not a star of any kind was to be seen tonight, because clouds covered the sky.
