Dark Night


Batman: Not this timeBefore I begin, this post has nothing to do with Batman. It would have been entitled “Dark Knight” if it were, but as my previous two posts have featured Super Heroes, and by pure chance they were Superman and Wonder Woman, it is easy to see how anyone who read the previous posts could get a little expectant on this post featuring the third of the ‘big three’. And now, funnily enough, it does… partly. There may be a Batman post very soon though; you never know.

No, this post is referring to the dark night last night.

Around the time of the Full Moon, which is now, nights tend to be a little lighter than usual. Well, they do around Aquatom Mansion anyway. The Full Moon is a spectacular sight. I am always in awe at how the Silent Sentinel hovers above, watching everything beneath her in glowing gloriousness. You can tell that I have a lot of time for the Moon, right? And this time is no exception either.

One thing that the Moon may have caused a little problem with is the ability to see the Perseids Meteor Shower that we are currently going through. I have been longing to see a full meteor shower for such a long time, but never have. Last year, I saw one meteor one time I looked out, and another time I saw about three or four. Not exactly a shower… I would describe them more as a drip.

Last night, I looked out of my window onto the open grounds that surround the mansion. They were originally surrounded by trees, but one night, somebody came along and chopped all of the trees down. Terrible shock it was, at the time, but I’ve gotten used to it now. So, I leaned out of my window from the upper floor, and looked up.

I couldn’t see the sky.

Well, what I mean is, I couldn’t see the sky through all of the heavy clouds that were hanging around. I knew they were heavy, because I couldn’t see the glow of the Moon either. I waited for a few minutes in the hope that the clouds would miraculously clear, revealing a dark sky with hundreds of shooting stars, but they didn’t.

Resigned, I stepped away from the window.

There is always tonight to have another look, but the Moon is at her fullest today, so it may be a little difficult to catch any of the shower, but I think it is worth a look never the less. We also have until the 22nd August to see the meteors. We will move to a different place in the Universe around the 22nd, and we won’t be able to see the Perseids again then until next year.

The next meteor shower we may or may not be able to see are the Orionids,  around 21st October this year. But that’s months away, isn’t it? There’s loads of time until then…

Night Sky

10 responses to “Dark Night”

  1. penpusherpen avatar

    O ‘K Sir Aquatom, just a letter separates how a blog will go, … must admit you got me, almost, when I saw a piccie of Batman, but I do love looking upwards, into the wide blue heavens above which keeps us mere mortals here below searching the night sky in the hope of spotting something amazing.. (who the heck chopped the trees?… Sacrilegious Oafs…) anywho, … time enough to spare to search the (k)night sky…I for one will now be standing int’ garden, neck craned and eyes open wide… Wish I owned a telescope…or do I mean some other scope?… anywho, whatever gives me extra scope to view the Perseids…. Twinkle twinkle, stars on show, give moonlit nights an extra glow, guiding our thoughts to greater things, wishing we could soar to the heavens on wings… ah I wonder what it would be like, to soar above the Earth, (sans the need to breathe) and be one with the Universe…. Lovely blog…. xPenx
    (the Owl survived to see another day… 🙂 ) xx

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    1. Tom (Aquatom1968) avatar

      I’m hoping I’ll be able to see some shooting stars tonight, Pen, but at the moment it is clouding over. It’s also still light, so a lot can change.
      Loved your twinkle poem by the way… I’ve soared around the Universe, Pen, and there is no feeling like it in the whole world. You tend to not even notice the breathing part.
      I wrote about the mystery of the missing trees back in January here. I think there are more trees around now than back then, but there are still some open spaces…

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  2. kateshrewsday avatar

    In Britain clouds are the norm; although I do remember sleeping out under the stars one time, pointing out the shimmering trails whenever they made an appearance. Truly magical, especially when accompanied by a very nice glass of wine.
    Waking up in a waterlogged sleeping bag the next morning was less than enchanting, I seem to remember.

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    1. Tom (Aquatom1968) avatar

      Hi Kate, did you manage to see more with the wine? I may try that technique sometime! I can imagine a damp morning not being the best…

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  3. Alannah Murphy avatar

    Batman! lol, I love Batman, but I digress…

    I’ve never seen a Meteor shower but my father and I had the pleasure of seeing Halley’s Comet in 1986, and I remember being in awe of the fact we were witnessing something mankind had seen for so long, and that the next time, neither one of us, would see it again, and it was one of those moments, that I will never forget…

    Hope you get to see the Meteor shower somehow and thank you for writing this post, for I had not thought about that memory of Halley’s Comet in years, and it’s a nice memory 🙂

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    1. Tom (Aquatom1968) avatar

      Hi Alannah, it’s always a pleasure to invoke nice memories!
      I think I remember seeing Halley’s Comet back then too, now you come to mention it. Now, either I did, or I read about it… hmmm.
      I’ll be looking out tonight, just in case, but I’m bound to see a meteor shower one day now that I’m looking – we seem to go through loads of them in a year!

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  4. jennygoth avatar
    jennygoth

    i saw one shooting star last night but i shut my blind after in case a bogey man looked in my window lol i am always excited to see them but the universe scares mei dont like the thought of being a big blue planet sitting in the sky xxjen

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    1. Tom (Aquatom1968) avatar

      Hi Jen, I didn’t get to see any last night either. I will see a full shower one day… I know I will! If it helps, I always think of the Universe as a constant companion, always there and giving us everything that we are asking for without wanting anything from us in return. Sometimes we get things we don’t ask for, as the Universe is always trying to please us. The Universe even carries this great world of ours. I like that image, personally.
      I hope the bogey man stayed away!

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  5. Androgoth avatar
    Androgoth

    I like this posting Aquatom as it has reminded me of when I had my telescope, years and years ago now of course but back then the sky was always so clear and full of stars, yes I know that they are still there but with so much cloud around these nights it is almost impossible to see them as before, or perhaps I just don’t take the time to look enough?

    A Meteor shower and shooting stars is a very appealing sight, though I can only ever remember seeing the latter, and yes last night was a Full Moon but I never caught a glimpse of it either.

    Thank you for offering such a wonderful posting, oh and for the Super Hero Batman too, which is something else that I haven’t seen in absolutely ages.

    Be very well my new friend 🙂

    Androgoth

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    1. Tom (Aquatom1968) avatar

      I’m pleased you liked my post, Androgoth, and I’m also pleased that it resurrected some old memories for you!

      Thank you for commenting! 🙂

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