It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Meteor!

It’s clearly one of the greatest aspects about living on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere—there’s a serious lack of light pollution here. Think about it. Bermuda cottages barely emit any light to the open air, streetlights are few and far between and the island has nary a skyscraper, ala New York's Times Square, that needs to get lit throughout the night for the public to see. That’s why I’m especially excited about this year’s Perseid meteor shower, which will be best viewed from 10pm tonight through early Friday morning. According to Eddie McGonagle of the Bermuda Astrological Society and first reported in the Bermuda Sun, “stargazers will be able to spot shooting stars at a rate of 50 per hour.” Wowsa. That's a whole lotta stars! So what exactly should folks in Bermuda expect to see when looking at the night sky tonight? Long slow streaks of light from the northeast (like the picture above) then shorter more rapid bursts, which will eventually move directly overhead (like a typical shooting star). Time to get out the telescopes!