Astronomical extravaganza

15th Dec 2007 is a very special for me. Not only is it the 4 years 9 months’ anniversary of being together with my dearest Limin, it’s a day where I can finally experience something which I had always wanted in my 27 years of my life. Back when I was much younger, I used to borrowed books from the library. Besides borrow books on dinosaurs, which is my favorite, I love books about astronomy – stars, planets, black holes and what not. I used to borrow this book on the solar system, which had colourful pictures and notes about each member of the solar system. I would try to draw the planets and sun according to the book, and copy down the notes besides the pictures as well – for the sake of keep it since library books are meant to be returned. Till today I still have the drawings at home!


And so on 14th Dec 07, when JM told me that there is a meteor shower on the early morning of 15th Dec 07 (estimated to peak at 3.45am), I was ecstatic! I MSNed and SMSed those friends staying in Australia, telling them the news. Basically, I’m pretty hype up – on the possibility of seeing my very first meteor! According to news, the meteor would be coming from the direction of the constellation Gemini, which is about below Mars at this time of the year. And how to I recognise Mars? Mars was on top of Orion and is naturally orangey-reddish in colour – and so I had no problem finding it since Orion is so easy to locate. And I was running to and fro the balcony in JM’s room every here and then to see if the meteor shower had started, since 11pm! LOL…

Anyway, thanks to Kuan who managed to get a car, Cat and I (as well as Kuan) finally reach Coogee beach to watch the meteor shower. But, this was before I saw a meteor flying pass from JM’s balcony!! Can you imagine the joy!!? I wanted to scream out, but managed to suppress it for fear of disturbing that no noise-scence woman staying below us. Hmm… prolly it was around 2.15am, but I can’t say for sure.


The night view of the sky from Coogee beach was superb and magnificent! As we went up to the cliff, where there was very little light pollution, we could see the stars in the sky very clear. I could even see the Milky Way stretching from the west to the east, towards the horizon where the sky meets the sea. And indeed as the books had mentioned, the Milky Way is full of stars as compared to the rest of the sky – truly a star-awing sight. It is a real pity that I couldn’t take a picture of it, and had to rely on my memory to relive the moments in future. My digital camera just isn’t good enough for the job. =( Throughout the night, I was treated to a sight of at about 20 – 30 meteors. Not much of a meteor shower, but just meteors here and there every few minutes or so – but I’m not complaining. It’s already fortunate enough to be able to view such astronomic sights. And especially for me, I’m totally near hysterical when I saw the first meteor while on the beach. I was like shouting? Or did I jump around as well like a kid? I really can’t remember, but Cat did say that I was like a kid then! LOL. Oh well, how often do you see such heavenly events? I don’t mind acting a little kiddish once in a while. =) And talk about wishing upon a falling star? Don’t even think about it, as the meteor went pass with a blink of an eye! Some were faint, while a couple of them went out with brilliance. We were somehow so busy with pointing out and exclaiming where the meteors was that there just wasn’t enough time to make a wish! LOL… I really hope that I had a camera to capture the moment, and that I will never forget this wonderful night with the heavens.

Following the meteor showers, we stayed on in Coogee to catch the sunrise again. Cat and I had caught the sunrise a week earlier, with the NYP students and gang, but it was a cloudy sunrise. And we had thought that this sunrise after the meteor shower would be cloudy as well. We were wrong. The sun just sneaked up on us right from the sea – a sight that is truly amazing and seldom seen in Singapore. Indeed we were treated to an astronomical extravaganza that morning – meteor watching capped off with a perfect sunrise. And photos of the sunrise to relive my memories forever…