Meteor Showers This Week Sparks Faith Martin’s Childhood Memories

Two meteor showers will peak this week! Don't Miss this! 

I love this stuff! I'm so intrigued with space and the night sky!

When I was a little girl, I kept my horse at a place called "The Chapporal Corral" This horse boarding facility was 23 acres that bordered another forty five acres and that bordered Henry Cowell National Forest. I lived in the town of Felton about 5 miles inland from Santa Cruz. Felton is known for our famous "Felton Covered Bridge"

We took very few photos back then. Note: The muddy pant legs and bare feet.  I was on the black pony "Diablo" Joan was on "Pasha" I was always barefoot, rain or shine. Pretty disgusting actually...I can't tell you how many stubbed toes and rusty nail punctures I had during those early years. In the background you can see a bit of the arena I'm talking about. Such great memories.

We formed a Club at the corral (I was President by the way haha! ) And there was about a dozen or more of us kids that would spend our every available moment each day before and after school and all day in summer, caring for our horses and riding through the Redwood forest and rivers  all over the town of Felton CA. 
From sun up to way past sundown, our summers were filled with adventure! (And trust me I have endless stories!)

I can't say enough about the fun adventures and lessons we learned from living in such an amazing area during the 1970's.

My point to the story (sorry I'm taking so long to get to) is...that during the summer months, it was not unusual for all us kids to convince our parents to let us spend the night in the big  horse arena.

Often we'd do this to be close by for the mares that were about to deliver. We were always so excited to welcome the new foals to the corral.

The Chaparral Corral has since changed it's name to Covered Bridge Equestrian Center, but looking at the Facebook site, the pictures look just as I remember. Even some of the same corrals and structures are still there that I had a hand in building! (I was President after all Haha)

We often held horse shows in this arena and it was huge and uncovered and supplied us with a perfect open viewing area for the dark night sky, far from any light pollution.

I was of course dirty and dusty and buggy, but I never once considered that back then,. I was completely content to sleep out under the stars in some makeshift sleeping bag or pile of blankets.

I marveled at how vast space was and I really grew to absolutely LOVE the night sky and all it's mystery and beauty. I've been a fan ever since! Even during my teenage and adult years, I found I am able sleep more soundly and comfortably outside rather than inside.

There are plenty of places here in the Tri-Cities to view this week's meteor showers if the clouds don't get in the way. I may stick an inflatable in my pickup bed and just drive it down to my pasture so I can get a good view of the night sky this week.

Where are the best places to view the night sky?

• On top of Badger or Candy Mountains.
• Rattlesnake Mountain (This will mean hiking)
• Jump Off Joe Butte, just south of Tri-Cities.
• McBee Hill (Hiking)
• Around the Top of the World park in Richland.

The Southern Delta Aquariids will be most active Monday night through early Tuesday and could ring in a viewing of up to 25 meteors per hour depending on your location, according to the American Meteor Society. And on Tuesday night, the minor shower Alpha Capricornids — known for its bright fireballs — could also bring five meteors per hour to the celestial party.

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What Causes Meteor Showers

Meteor showers are the debris left by comets and asteroids orbiting the sun that Earth encounters annually at some point during its orbital path. The debris trail for the Southern Delta Aquariids is spread out, so the shower could produce around the same rates of meteors for a few days surrounding its peak, said Robert Lunsford, the fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society.

A fireball is defined as a meteor that is brighter than planet Venus and is caused by a larger-size meteor that could exceed 1 meter (more than 3 feet) in diameter, according to NASA.

There are a number of times per year when Meteor showers are visible, so be sure to put on your calendar and make a point to spend some time capturing a glimpse of the night sky during these spectacular times of year. This is fun for the whole family! Don't miss it!

Two of the best places to view Meteor showers are close to the Tri-Cities

If you're planning to make an event of the Meteor shower activity this week, keep in mind that it's actually best to view the night sky with your own eyes not a telescope or Binoculars.

You’ll want a clear view of the entire sky, said Andrew Rivkin, a planetary astronomer and research scientist with the Applied Physics Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.