This week, the Lyrids meteor shower was active. Since we have an astronomy geek in our midst, he convinced us to ride out to Roxen lake on Saturday night. Roxen lake is around 15 km from Ryd, Linköping so we decided to make an adventure out of it by cycling to the lake bed and camp there the whole night, looking at the sky.
We packed some food and drinks and departed from Ryd around 11 pm. The bicycle ride was pleasant and refreshing. We crossed the outskirts of Linköping into the countryside after which, there was not a single soul in sight. It was just the four of us, the cool breeze and the empty, but lit roads. As we got closer to our spot, the road was completely dark. There were no lights, no movements; just the rustling of leaves in the forest. Although, a black cat crossed our path to spook things up a bit 😉.
After navigating with our torch lights and smartphones, we reached our spot at ten minutes to midnight. The sight that lay in front of us was spectacular.
Unfortunately, you can't see the crescent moon in the photo. It was such a beautiful sight with the moonlight shining down on the lake. We settled down with this view and our geek rolled out his equipment to capture pictures. He pointed us to the region in the sky where the meteors will most likely appear and we turned our gaze in that direction. Over the next couple of hours, we did see a few meteors blazing across. What a feeling that was! It was the first time I ever saw a meteor so it was quite exciting.
Since the meteor blazes across in a split second, it is not easy to take pictures of it. But it was in this region of the sky that we saw most meteors. After an hour of star gazing, the weather got rough. Strong winds started to blow and they were chilling to the bone! We certainly did not expect this. We did not have enough warm clothing. So we sat down under a big tree and stuck together for warmth. We wrapped ourselves in a thin bedspread that I had brought along just in case. Despite the discomfort and shivering, we couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous situation we were in. We had left the warm comforts of our rooms to spend the night in the middle of nowhere!
Yes, that's us under a tree. We might look warm but I assure you, it wasn't nearly warm enough!
The weather showed us mercy eventually and the winds calmed down. But by then, we could hardly feel our palms and feet. After the moon set around 2:40 am, the skies got clearer and we saw more meteors and also spotted some satellites passing through. It's amazing how well our eyes adjust when we constantly gaze at the sky and you notice a lot more stars than usual. Another reason why we could see them so clearly is that we had come quite far away from the city so there is very little light pollution.
I think this is when we started to really enjoy ourselves. We opened up snacks and soft drinks, played some light music and just enjoyed nature. I sat there with my buddies, enjoying the view without a care in the world. I remember listening to Pink Floyd and actually feeling 'Comfortably Numb', getting high on that pure natural oxygen. No five-star hotel could have matched the ambiance that we were getting, not to mention, it was completely free!
As dawn approached, we could see the colors appearing slowly. We spotted Swans, Geese and a lot of other birds in the lake. As we waited for the sun the rise, we reminisced our childhood by picking up flat pebbles and played the good old game of stone skipping.
Witnessing the sunrise is always precious. We could literally feel the warmth of the rays as the sun rose up. There is certain happiness you experience when you see the big ball of fire rising from beneath the horizon. No matter how rarely or often you see this, it never gets old and always instill some energy. After all, the sun is the sole source of energy for all of the life we know.
This was a night that I will remember for a long time. After my second visit to Roxen lake, I'm pretty sure I will go there and to many more places like this across the countryside of Sweden.
Planning and photo credits to our astronomy geek, Harivinay Varadaraju, who pretty much ignored the chilly winds to capture some pictures that we will treasure.
Cheers!
We packed some food and drinks and departed from Ryd around 11 pm. The bicycle ride was pleasant and refreshing. We crossed the outskirts of Linköping into the countryside after which, there was not a single soul in sight. It was just the four of us, the cool breeze and the empty, but lit roads. As we got closer to our spot, the road was completely dark. There were no lights, no movements; just the rustling of leaves in the forest. Although, a black cat crossed our path to spook things up a bit 😉.
After navigating with our torch lights and smartphones, we reached our spot at ten minutes to midnight. The sight that lay in front of us was spectacular.
Unfortunately, you can't see the crescent moon in the photo. It was such a beautiful sight with the moonlight shining down on the lake. We settled down with this view and our geek rolled out his equipment to capture pictures. He pointed us to the region in the sky where the meteors will most likely appear and we turned our gaze in that direction. Over the next couple of hours, we did see a few meteors blazing across. What a feeling that was! It was the first time I ever saw a meteor so it was quite exciting.
A long exposure shot of the Milky Way
Yes, that's us under a tree. We might look warm but I assure you, it wasn't nearly warm enough!
I think this is when we started to really enjoy ourselves. We opened up snacks and soft drinks, played some light music and just enjoyed nature. I sat there with my buddies, enjoying the view without a care in the world. I remember listening to Pink Floyd and actually feeling 'Comfortably Numb', getting high on that pure natural oxygen. No five-star hotel could have matched the ambiance that we were getting, not to mention, it was completely free!
As dawn approached, we could see the colors appearing slowly. We spotted Swans, Geese and a lot of other birds in the lake. As we waited for the sun the rise, we reminisced our childhood by picking up flat pebbles and played the good old game of stone skipping.
Witnessing the sunrise is always precious. We could literally feel the warmth of the rays as the sun rose up. There is certain happiness you experience when you see the big ball of fire rising from beneath the horizon. No matter how rarely or often you see this, it never gets old and always instill some energy. After all, the sun is the sole source of energy for all of the life we know.
This was a night that I will remember for a long time. After my second visit to Roxen lake, I'm pretty sure I will go there and to many more places like this across the countryside of Sweden.
Planning and photo credits to our astronomy geek, Harivinay Varadaraju, who pretty much ignored the chilly winds to capture some pictures that we will treasure.
Cheers!
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