The Sky is Falling!

I couldn't help but think this, as I watched meteors streak across the sky last week, while the Perseids Meteor Shower reached its most dramatic hours. What did prehistoric peoples think when they saw this amazing spectacle? The sky is falling. The gods are angry. The Earth is passing through the dust trail of a comet. Run for your life! Whatever the explanation, today we run toward meteor showers: a celestial Fourth of July.

Last Thursday there was no moon. But there were roughly a billion trillion kazillion stars dotting the sky. About 175,270 of those had reflections twinkling in the dark water of Elk Lake. Jupiter, so bright, cast a light on the water the likes of a moonbeam. And the Milky Way stretched from one end of the sky to the other. Then came the meteors. The first one - streaking half way across the sky - landed on the backside of Mt. Bachelor. Or so it seemed. And that was just the beginning. Read more here.