Last Friday, a meteor shower was predicted to occur. Initial estimates of 400 meteors per hour were to appear throughout the night. My friends and I were excited for the opportunity to witness this, and also to capture it on our cameras as well. After some research, we decided that the Shenandoah National Park was the best place within our vicinity to escape the light pollution.
After a 2 hour drive starting at midnight, the cost of gas, almost hitting some deer on the road, freezing our butts in the cold, and getting neck pains from staring at the sky, we saw only 4 or 5 meteors. FAIL! Whatever happened to the 400 meteors per hour?
However, if you were to ask me if it was worth going through all that trouble, I would have to say, ABSOLUTELY. Being able to see the stars and the night sky so clearly made me feel in awe of the beauty of the universe. But made it even better, was being able to spend that moment of time with great friends.
I'm looking forward to returning to Shenandoah to do some stargazing, with our without a chance of meteor showers in the future.