When the Comet Came
Image by Lukas Vanatko on Unsplash
A few days ago I had the opportunity to see the C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet. I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law at the NC coast while the comet was closest to Earth. One evening we made our plans and headed out a little before sunset, our chosen location being a small local bar overlooking the water.
The night was sparkling clear and the sunset’s colors were incredible. We had our tools, a pair of binoculars and a phone app to show the comet’s location, and settled in for the glorious show - an indigo sky that gave away to brilliant violets, reds, oranges and yellows as the sun set below the horizon, a rising half moon, a large ship making its way into open water, the last of the smaller fishing boats coming into port, silhouettes of birds as they flew by, and a high tide lapping against the dock. Perfect.
After the sun had completely set, my brother lifted the binoculars toward the mapped location. Our directive call became “find Venus then go to the right and up.”
He was the first to find the comet with the binoculars. We were so excited—there it was! We each took turns finding it and marveling at what we were seeing. Even more remarkable, as the sky continued to darken we were able to see it without binoculars. The comet was so bright it could be seen with bare eyes.
We were all mesmerized by what we had seen because we knew the facts behind the comet.
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS last came to Earth 80,000 years ago. In addition, we were seeing it as it was streaking by 44,000,000 miles away. My brain doesn’t know how to fully comprehend an 80,000 year time chunk, nor a distance of 44 million miles.
Think how large and how bright it must be to be visible at that distance. Astronomers estimate the diameter of the comet’s “head” to be 130,000 miles across, 16 times the diameter of the Earth and its tail is 18 million miles long.
More numbers that are unimaginable to fathom.
Which is the very reason I’m writing about it here.
When we talk about Intelligent Design, or The Universe, or The Divine, or God, we are using made up words to name something we are unable to fathom. We live within a construct we will never comprehend as limited-minded humans, much less control.
That’s the point.