Twinkle, Twinkle Shooting Star

It's auspicious for us, perhaps, that tonight's meteor shower came from Gemini, the twins.  We went out around 8:30 pm and it was clear (and chilly) and pretty dark, with no moon.  We spotted Orion immediately and knew this one bright spot was something special; Mama later identified it with her phone app as Jupiter!

And then the meteors fell, about one every three or four minutes, which was just long enough to get cold and a bit discouraged in between, especially as they were falling across a wide swath of the sky.  I don't think we all saw the same one at any given time.  But we did count to 16 in all, with everyone spotting a few.  Sis and I saw the first ones and Bud wasn't sure how to tell a meteor from a plane.  It'll be a line in the sky, I said.  And after he saw his first, squealing with glee, he said, "It's like someone drew a line on a black chalkboard and erased it really quickly."

Do they even have chalkboards at school?

Well, we do have a green one on one whole kitchen wall.

We talked about meteors, as opposed to meteorites, one of which you can touch at AMNH, I believe. Sis remembered that a huge meteorite killed the dinosaurs.  Bud worried that we might get hit by one, but I managed to dispel that fear.

I think we watched for about 45 minutes, migrating into the darkest bit of the backyard where we could spot the biggest patch of sky.  The meteors were pretty falling through the silhouetted branches of the leafless winter trees.  Beautiful.  Sis also kept finding "Hidden Mickeys" in the stars.

It all reminded me of the most spectacular meteor shower Mama and I have ever seen, on the winter beach of the Rockaways in 2001, I think, the Leonids.  In early morning hours, wrapped in coats and carrying hot chocolate, Mama, Goo, and I (joined for a bit, if I recall, by Ma and Gong) counted over 400 meteors falling constantly across the sky into the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes they came so fast and from some many directions that we couldn't even keep count; eventually we did just stop. It's one of the most amazing natural sights I've ever seen and the most memorable stargazing.

Tonight, I think we started the kids on their own love of stargazing.  I hope they get a night like our Leonids sometime in their lives.  But tonight was a great first start!

(And it sure beats getting up during the peak hours around 3 a.m.!)

Full-Moon Soup

A month or so ago we just happened to have soup on the night of a very visible full moon.  Bud suggested we always have soup for full moons because, well, bowls are round.

We did it again this week, having beef noodle soup before going outside to marvel at the rising moon.  We also saw Venus glowing bright, a few satellites in their orbits, the belt of Orion, and other stars.  The kids' favorite part?  Using the Google SkyMap app on Mama's smartphone to identify the different celestial bodies, including pointing it to the ground and "seeing" Mars on the other side of the Earth!

Their excitement reminded me of how infrequently they are outside at night.  We'll have to spend more weekend and summer evenings outside.

And eat soup on March 8.

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Full-Moon Beef Noodle Soup


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
leftover beef roast or other cut, cubed
6 cups leftover drippings, plus stock to supplement
3/4 cup frozen corn
1/3-1/2 lb. rotini pasta

Saute onion, celery and carrot in olive oil in a pot until soft, adding garlic at the end.  Add beef and drippings/stock.  Simmer, adding pasta and increasing temperature about 15 minutes before you are ready to eat.  Add corn and flavor to taste.

Mommy Hungry