Did you know there's a comet in our skies?
Perhaps I should ask if anyone's surprised there's a comet passing our way in this strange and tragic year. Back in the Middle Ages comets caused a lot of anxiety. People attributed everything from heat waves, unrest, and epidemics to their appearance. Thankfully, we know that comets have nothing to do with those things, right?
It's understandable why their appearance aroused such anxiety. Comets aren't like anything else in our skies. With their long tails stretching bright across the darkness, these strange visitors appear for a little while and then disappear.
The comet currently in our evening skies is not a bright comet. You'll need binoculars and a clear north-western sky to catch a glimpse of it. Comet C/2020 F3, also called Neowise, is currently climbing higher in the western sky near the Big Dipper just after sunset. It's dimming as it rises; so, it will soon fade from our skies, and it'll be another 6,800 years before it passes this way again.
Comets, according to the current theories, originate in an area of space called the Oort Cloud, which lies beyond the orbit of Pluto. It is a dark, cold region of our solar system where millions upon millions of icy rocks orbit the sun. Once in awhile, a rock is nudged out of its comfortable orbit causing it to make the long journey into the solar system where it loops around our sun before heading back out again on its new, often regular, orbit.
Despite their brightness, comets appear to have a very low albedo or reflectivity. This means they have to draw close (astronomically speaking) to the source of light before they begin to shine. It also means they lose that light very quickly as they travel away.
Maybe this gets to why comets have unsettled people: they're a lot like us.
I've a very low albedo. I am very good at absorbing light, but very bad at reflecting it. I'm much closer to a dark, cold rock than someone who reflects a greater light. In fact, I only do so when I am in close proximity to the source of light. And, boy, do I fade just as soon as I begin to move away.
Often, when I do allow light to shine from me, it's difficult for anyone to see. When the world grows dark I am just a tiny, starlike glow and it would take a keen-eyed observer to see what little light I reflect into this world. And too quickly, I fade.
Our world, our country is facing a long and difficult night. There will be a sunrise, but, right now, it seems distant. There are many looking for some tiny light to look upon and know the darkness is not all there is. They are looking for the Light we follow.
So, in this brief time that we are seen, let us reflect that Light.
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