From what I understand tonight is the first night of the Geminid Meteor Shower that should be going on for the next week or so.   I learned about it as I drove home tonight and got a first hand glimpse at what is happening tonight.


About an hour ago I was driving home, eastbound on I-44 from Springfield Mo.   A few miles west of Strafford, Mo. I saw a meteor burn up... an unexpected, but spectacular sight to be sure   It was visible very low in the sky... it almost seemed like it was at treetop level but I know that was an illusion.  Still it was very low indeed.  A long blue line traced it across the sky, like natural gas burning, which lasted in all about five seconds.  It came in shallow... a 10 degree or at most 15 degree angle as it shot across the sky.  About the three second mark it flared white.  At four seconds it flared larger and I saw it begin to break up.   Went dark almost immediately after that.  As low as it was and the way it broke up I'd say it's a fair bet that something survived all the way down, but of course  it was night and it would have hit south of the town I was driving through so no way of telling where that'd be, but it was a surprising and very cool sight to see    Now that I'm home I did searches on line about any activity and found out about the Geminid Shower.  Apparently it's one of the most spectacular of the year, and if this first sight is any indication I can believe it   

It's been a long time since I've seen anything astronomical like this.  Such a rare treat to see, and I'm glad I was in the right place and the right time, so I wanted to share with you and hopefully you too can see something wondrous in the sky over the next few nights


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