Every year in July/August the Earth passes through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which last passed close to Earth in 1992.  Because it is so consistent each year it is easy to remember to catch its wonderful meteors shooting across the sky. From July 14-August 24 with a peak of August 11-12th you can catch the show.

The best time to look for meteors is in the pre-dawn hours. The peak viewing days are typically your best shot to see the sky speckled with bright meteors. To see the meteors, look up and to the north. Those in southern latitudes can look toward the northeast to see more meteors. If you are lucky enough to live in an area of little light at night you can see up to 100 meteors an hour.

Sadly I could not catch any this year as I live in an area with a lot of light. It is best to go drive out somewhere in the country or desert to avoid the harsh lights.

My Father worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was very aware of celestial events. He would bring me pictures of nebulas and interesting stars taken by NASA. One year we drove to the desert to spend the night looking up at the stars. I laid down on a cot and looked up all night. I had never had such a clear view of the sky. I remember asking my dad what that cloudy structure in the sky was. He looked at me like I was a dullard and said The Milky Way. He probably never realized I had never seen it before. I listened to coyotes howl while falling asleep under the stars. Being with my Dad I felt safe. Not sure if he got a good night sleep but it was a nice memory. I would like to do that again.

When I look at the sky, I always remember the quote from Carl Sagan which they used in the movie Contact. When asked about the possibility about other life out there, he said “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”

Carl also use to say there were billions and billions of stars out there. So it cracks me up with the classic Far Side cartoon about Carl when he was just a child. A child’s point of view is so small. As Earthlings, I think our point of view is very small also.

I for one, believe that there is life out there but may be something we could not recognize. People I know have seen unusual flying objects in the sky that are not “normal”. But so far no one admits to seeing other beings. Maybe they are amongst us. Who knows.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

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