Look Up Tonight

Wednesday. And tonight is special: the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak tonight and tomorrow night — the best meteor shower of the year, arriving right on schedule in the middle of August like it always does.

Here’s what you do. Find somewhere dark — the darker the better, away from streetlights if you can manage it. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair. Let your eyes adjust for twenty minutes, which is longer than you think and absolutely worth it. Then just look up and wait. No telescope needed. No expertise required. Just patience and a patch of open sky.

The meteors will come — dozens an hour at the peak, each one a piece of ancient comet dust burning up in a flash overhead. And something happens to a person lying under a sky like that. The week’s worries recalibrate. The problems shrink to their actual size.

The universe is putting on its best show tonight. Attendance is free.

Something happens to a person lying under a meteor shower. The problems shrink to their actual size.

Will you go out and watch tonight — and who would you bring with you?