The Universe is thought to be about 15 billion years old, the Milky Way about 11 billion years old and Earth is estimated to be about 4 and a half billion years old. Ever since the planet formed, it has been hit by millions of lumps of rock and ice, sometimes accompanied by a streak of light flashing across the sky.
Who knows how long a certain piece of rock had been travelling in space before it burned through the atmosphere on Saturday morning and exploded with a spectacular flash somewhere over the west of Ireland. And if it had just taken two more minutes to reach Earth after millenia soaring through space, I might have got a photograph of it, rather than just seeing it light up the sky while holding a tripod in one hand and a camera in the other. Damn it anyway.
The picture above shows transatlantic jets destined for Heathrow passing over the windfarm near Spiddal in west Galway on Saturday morning.