Best Night Ever

Hey all I first want to establish that we are sailing up the coast of Brazil just about to cross back over the equator.  I will post about our time in Brazil after this so don’t worry :)

Early yesterday morning from about 0130-0330 our shipboard community got to experience one of the best nights I think any of us has had here on ship!  Starting at about 0100 we started to crowd the fore of decks seven and eight.  Clutching pillows and blankets and rubbing sleep from our eyes we stumbled around in our pj’s until we found the perfect place to lie down.  By 0145 there were hundreds of students, faculty, staff, life ling learners and children covering the decks and anxiously awaiting the security staff to come up and turn off the lights.  The constellation of Orion was almost directly above us and Jupiter and the star Sirius were shining brightly, illuminating what we thought was an amazingly clear sky.

Then with the flick of a switch and a huge gasp followed by almost dead silence the lights went out and we found out just how wrong we had been earlier, it wasn’t until the lights went out that we could truly see the sky.  Our astronomy professor started to point out some basic constellations and used his laser to once again show everyone Orion and Jupiter.  Then he showed us the constellation of Leo which we had all been waiting for as right we are at the peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower—one of the best and most visible meteor showers of the year.  We anxiously searched the skies for any sign of movement and got confused by lasers and the rocking of the ship but soon enough the gasps started and everyone started pointing.  The first dozen or so were short and not everyone saw them but then there was a huge meteor whose tail went across at least half the sky and everyone went crazy!  Our astronomy professor kept moving around with his laser and binoculars (or as he calls them ‘binos’) and pointing out constellations and showing people the moons of Jupiter.  Those of us who are in his class regaled everyone else with the stories of Orion and the scorpion in between meteor sightings and it was honestly perfect.  All in all it wasn’t the best meteor shower in the world but not one single person cared because of how sheerly amazing it all was.  I truly cannot put into words how that night felt and I know that I will never forget it.

As promised I will post Brazil soon!

~Colleen