There is science and there is the experience.
Sometimes one feeds the mind and the other feeds the soul.
In a college astronomy class, I learned the science that explains those momentary flashes we see in the night sky known as meteors or shooting stars.
But years ago, on a dark, sparkling clear desert night the spectacle of dozens of fiery streaks through an inky summer sky touched the depths of my soul.
In just a few weeks, those searching for greater scientific knowledge or to open their soul to the mysteries of the vast universe will have a prime opportunity to do both as the annual Perseid meteor shower ignites the August sky.
No matter the outlook, media outlets tout the annual sky show every summer, but the absence of competing moonlight will make this year’s event likely one of the best in several years. Viewers at dark sky locations may be able to see as many as 130 meteors an hour.
It’s a magical experience.
We know the science behind meteors. They happen nightly when tiny grains of space dust enter Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 50 miles per second. The friction created causes these small particles of cosmic travelers to burst into flame just 30 to 50 miles overhead.
A more spectacular fireball may occasionally be created when a pea-sized rock burns up.
On any given night, a sky watcher may see a few “falling stars” in several hours.
A meteor shower, however, is an event that generates dozens of flashes an hour, due to Earth’s age through a cloud of debris left behind by comets or asteroids.
Next month’s Perseid shower is the product of Comet Swift-Tuttle that travels in a 133-year orbit around the sun.
Every August, the Earth es through the cloud of space dust left behind by the comet that was last visible with binoculars in 1992. For those planning ahead, it will return as a naked-eye object in 2126.
In the meantime, we can enjoy the annual meteor shower thanks to the dust cloud left behind.
The science of meteors is relatively simple, but witnessing a spectacular shower can have profound impacts on viewers.
At the lowest level, it’s spectacular to sit outdoors on a warm summer night and watch a dazzling Milky Way overhead. It doesn’t matter if there are meteors.
There are millions of people in the world who have never seen the Milky Way, much less a meteor shower.
Light pollution from urban centers has muted the darkness, allowing people to see only the very brightest nighttime objects, perhaps only the moon. Without some changes, the world could lose the darkness.
Thanks to successful community efforts in Borrego Springs, Julian and now in progress in Valley Center, local stargazers are leading efforts to preserve the unique beauty of the night sky by encouraging new lighting standards that will not only save money and be more effective, but also preserve our view of the heavens.
Borrego Springs and Julian, along with Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, have already earned recognition by the International Dark Sky Association as prime locations for night sky viewing.
This means coastal urban dwellers have only a few miles to travel to see a world unseen from their neighborhood.
This year’s Perseids will peak on the night of Aug. 12 and morning of Aug. 13. Typically, viewing is better after midnight, when the Earth rotates into the dust cloud.
The universal reaction to seeing a meteor is, “ooh.”
But viewers tend to go silent when the skies ignite with a display of several meteors a minute, or even three or four almost simultaneously.
For me, the immensity of the scene awakens the soul to the many mysteries and greatness of the universe and to our relative place in it.
Sitting silently at the edge of infinity, I struggle to understand that concept.
Author Roz Savage said it in a way that resonated with me.
“The Milky Way swooped diagonally across the heavens, reminding me of my utter insignificance, and at the same time my complete interconnection with everything. I was just a tiny speck of consciousness, and yet I was consciousness itself,” she wrote.
The silence alone in this vast scene opens the heart to contemplating such things as life throughout the universe.
And who better to offer perspective than astronaut Buzz Aldrin?
“There may be aliens in our Milky Way galaxy, and there are billions of other galaxies. The probability is almost certain that there is life somewhere in space,” Aldrin said.
Sitting in darkness with diamonds glittering above, I contemplated Aldrin’s words.
Staring out at the endless view overhead, I was humbled, and my heart and soul were free to wander.
Science may always come to the same conclusion, but an experience can impact each of us differently if we free the heart and soul.
I love the science, but I cherish the experience.
Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email [email protected] or visit erniesoutdoors.blogspot.com.
