Leonid Returns

The Leonid meteor shower. It arrives every year around this time, and this year's would be more intense than that of other years. I decided to look for some meteor showers. I figured it would be a pretty nice break from studying. So I walked out of my apartment and tried looking for some place devoid of light pollution. This is a hard task especially in Westwood where UCLA is located. Everywhere I went there was light shining on my face. It felt like I just finished a play.

So the first place I went was the track field at 11pm. The flood lights turn off after 10pm so it was a fairly nice place to look at the sky even though street and building lights were still visible. I lied down on the bleachers and looked up at the moonless sky. Orion's belt was there, some other constellations I forgot the name of were visible, and so was mars! The faint flickering yellowish dot...Sometimes I wonder if somewhere in the universe other beings were doing the same thing, lying down and watching the night sky. Of course they might be looking at the sky for potential planets to conquer, but I digress.

12am - Anyways onto the next spot: the roof. I went up to a neighboring apartment's roof. So I was technically on the fourth floor. It is a much better place to hunt for shooting stars. I should have gotten some chairs because my neck was starting to hurt. I left after 15 minutes and no sign of paint brush fleeting through the sky.

In the end, I think I saw two meteors. It might have been my imagination but I clearly saw them flew past the sky and disappeared...and no they weren't airplanes :). The whole trip took longer than I thought, but this is how it's supposed to be, random yet engaging. You need to be patient for it. It reminds me of the time we went to Alishan (阿里山) to view the Leonid meteor shower. I can't believe it has been 11 years. My family went with two other families who are good friends with us. We brought snacks, chairs, blankets, flashlights, and binoculars. Since we were in the mountains, light wasn't a problem. And we end up seeing more than 20 meteors after 4 or 5 different locations. Some burnt up really fast, but others created a bright mark even after it disappeared.

Star and meteor gazing requires patience and some luck. The longer you stay focused, the more chance of actually seeing something and getting a result (this is true not only for star gazing by the way). It was a nice adventure through the night looking up in space, witnessing the phenomenon that is rare to obtain.