Watching Meteor Showers and Building Memories

The concept of outer space, with its unimaginably distant stars, mysterious other planets, and unknown wonders, can fuel a child's imagination like nothing else. Meteors and meteor showers are particularly intriguing since they represent an actual piece of that mysterious outer space falling to Earth. Every shooting star launches a million dreams of following the meteor's trajectory and finding a space rock that unlocks some long-hidden mystery.

One of my favorite memories is staying up late one night, with my wife and son to watch a meteor shower. He was probably about seven or eight years old at the time. I recall it being very cold, so it might have been the annual November meteor shower known as the Leonids. My son is in high school now, and it turns out that staying up that night to watch the meteor shower is one of his favorite memories as well.

The Mysteries of Meteors after Midnight

On that cold late autumn night, I brought out a chaise lounge for my son, along with a sleeping bag and some blankets to keep him warm. With the reclining lounge chair, he could lie back comfortably and watch the sky. I recall that, during this particular meteor shower, the prediction was for about one visible meteor per minute at the peak of the meteor shower. This was to occur shortly after midnight. Of course, when you're seven or eight years old, staying up past midnight has a special magic of its own, especially being outside after midnight.

We took our positions on the front lawn around ten o'clock and began seeing the short-lived streaks of falling meteors blazing across the sky almost immediately. We watched them for hours, talking about space things. Where do meteors come from? The Leonids are the left-over dust of a comet tail. What's a comet made of? It's a kind of ice with dust and space rocks that it picks up as sails on its endless journey through the solar system. There were hundreds of questions and with simple, but thought-provoking, answers that a young child can understand. Some of the best discussions started with me replying, "I don't know, what do you think it might be?" We would be led to discussions of far away planets, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and what might those extraterrestrials be like. Our discussion and our imaginations soared through the galaxy as those meteors blazed across the sky and blazed that night indelibly into our memories.

Leonids Meteor Shower Schedule

The Leonids meteor shower this year should peak on November 17^th, though a good showing of meteors may occur a day or two on either side of that date. The intensity of a given meteor shower is measured in visible meteors per hour and varies from year to year. Anything approaching 60 visible meteors per hour makes great viewing. That's enough to keep a child's interest and enough time in between each meteor for great conversation. It's actually pretty tricky to predict in advance how brilliant a display a particular meteor shower will produce. Things like the distance of the passing comet to the Earth, the brightness of the moon, the angle that the earth passes through the stream of debris, and many more factors all play an important role in determining how much of a show any given meteor shower will put on in any given year. This November 17th, the moon is expected to be rather bright and this may reduce the visibility of the Leonids somewhat. Using your hand or a piece of cardboard to block the bright moon from your vision as you watch the sky can help keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness so the meteors will be a bit easier to see. Of course, a lot depends on the weather. If the sky is overcast, you're out of luck. If you live in the country, with few nearby city lights, you can just set up your chairs anyplace where you have a clear view of the sky. Those who live in the city will have trouble seeing well at all unless they travel outside the city's bright lights. Even large telescopes have trouble dealing with the lights of nearby cities which can mask the relatively dim light of stars and meteors.

Meteor Facts to Start the Discussion

While it isn't necessary, you might want to brush up on your astronomy beforehand. There's nothing wrong with saying I don't know, but having a few facts handy won't hurt either. Here are a few quick meteor facts, toned down to seven or eight year old level, and pulled from memory to help you get started.

Most of the meteors we see during a meteor shower are about the size of a grain of sand. The biggest are about the size of a marble. Meteors of this size will burn up long before they reach the ground. Meteors large enough to reach the ground are very, very rare.

Some meteors are actually pieces of other planets that have been knocked loose in ancient times by collisions with other space objects (like large meteors or asteroids). Scientists have even found pieces of Mars on Earth.

Most, but not all, major meteor showers occur when the Earth passes across the old path of a comet. When a comet gets close to the sun, the energy from the sun causes a tail to form as the sun's energy strips small pieces off the comet and evaporates the ice. This leaves a trail of dust in its wake, and it's this dust and debris that causes the meteor showers as it burns up in Earth's atmosphere.

No Need to Wait for a Meteor Shower

While the Leonids should put on a good show this November, there is really no need to wait. Sitting out under the stars on a clear summer night, talking with your son or daughter about the wonders of outer space can build memories that are just as lasting, and just as sweet. Pick a moonless night when the pale light of the milky way flows across the sky for an even better conversation. Even if there is no meteor shower on a given night, you are still likely to see a stray meteor or two, if you're patient. There will certainly be enough magic floating around the night sky to weave into memories that you and your children can carry for the rest of your lives.