As some of you might have noticed last night, there was a meteor shower. More specifically the Quadrantids meteor shower. Now I don't know a lot about space, but I kind of wish I did. So last night I was getting ready for bed and I decided to look up when the shower was going to be visible. What I stumbled upon was a website with a link to NASA's live streaming video of the night sky. The quality was sub-par, but I found it to be amazing. People all over the world were checking in and communicating about their attempts to witness the meteor shower, both on the live streaming video and outside in the actual night sky. I love the idea that something in God's creation can bring people together like that. While watching I did see two or three meteors on the video, so I decided to go take a look out at the night sky. I looked up at the sky for about 10 minutes (it was late and cold, so that's all I invested in it) and didn't see any meteors. It was however a beautiful clear night sky, and while I missed the meteors, I was reminded of the awe of outer space. Here is a picture from National Geographic of a meteor from the Quadrantids taken over Iran:
After looking at the night sky I was inspired and came across an article that talked about the top ten space stories of the last year. A lot happened in the world of space. For one, the space shuttle era ended, and with it comes a new form of space travel that could result in astronauts returning to the moon by 2020, the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. I personally think it would be really cool to see a mission to the moon in my lifetime. Other interesting stories from the year are that multiple earth like planets were discovered and that the international space station was finally completed. What's interesting about these planets is that one of them, Kepler 22b, is in the Goldilocks Zone (Those of you who took Concepts in Physical Science at MNU should know that this is the zone far enough away from its star, but not too far away from it to make life on that planet possible.)
No, I don't know a lot about space, but I can't help but find the night sky awe inspiring. The beauty alone is magnificent. Go gaze at the sky on a clear night and tell me the stars aren't amazing to look at. Or go look at the night sky after a fresh snowfall. It's really amazing the beauty that exists in our world. I would really love to view a meteor shower in the future. We have a natural beauty, and I think we should all take a moment to appreciate that.
