life of a mushroom: August 2011

In the month of August every year, the night sky is graced with the appearance of bits of debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. This astronomical event is known as the annual Perseid meteor shower because the meteors appear to be radiating from the constellation Perseus. This shower draws the attention of stargazers all over the world because of how reliable the meteors are, and also how it has a very high sighting rate that can go up to one Perseid per minute at its peak. The best part of it is that these meteors are easily visible to the naked eye, and offers a free celestial display that can be appreciated by everyone.

I first heard about this meteor shower two years ago, when I spent the entire summer in London for my UROP placement. I was amazed, or rather, literally star-struck, by the image of a meteor shower lighting up a night sky. I started reading more into it, and when I realized how easily sighted and beautiful these Perseids can be, I only got more and more fascinated and really wanted to see them for myself. I then went in search of a vast expanse of clear dark sky with my friend Yingying, but it was so hard to find a proper place that allowed us to watch the sky without obstruction from towering buildings or interference of light from street lamps. London was just too populated and polluted! In our desperate attempt to get a clear view of the sky, we even tried to get into Hyde Park, but even then, the sky was far too cloudy for us to even see mere stars twinkling in the sky. At one point, I thought I spotted something fly across the sky, but it might very well be my hallucination. So, sadly, we had to give up on the meteor watch in the end as the sky only got cloudier (and brighter).

Last year this time, I was in Didcot for my studentship at Harwell. Another chance to watch the Perseids again! This would have been a really good time to catch them, because Didcot was so much more rural than London, and I was blessed with a perfect view of the night sky from my room! But I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, because I had to wake up really early the next morning to get to Cambridge for Hashimoto sensei’s wedding and couldn’t afford to stay up all night till the predawn hours (which is the best time to catch the meteors). In the end, I got too comfortable staring at the sky from my bed, and dozed off.

Now, just as I am typing this, there is a community of meteor watchers all over the world gazing at the night sky. Many of them tweet whenever they spot any Perseids and would update everyone else on their geographical location and how many meteors they spotted. There is even a map showing live updates of meteor sightings. It is so nice to know that that are so many people around you looking at different parts of this continuous entity that embraces us all – patiently and eagerly waiting for shooting stars to appear, like little hopeful kids excited about Christmas.

This year, unfortunately, by a mere coincidence, the meteor shower clashes with the emergence of a full moon, which would brighten the sky considerably and might make it harder to observe the meteors. Reading that dampened my hopes a little, but all I really wanted was just to see a shooting star. Just one will do. Besides, this is likely my very last chance to catch the Perseids in the UK. I was also really encouraged by the fact that I have seen really pretty starry skies in Oxford before. So yesterday night, which was supposed to be the peak of the showers, I went out and took a little walk.

I first went to college to see if I could see anything from the quads. Here’s the Lincoln chapel against a backdrop of clouds, and that illuminating bright glow belongs to the full moon.

Then I went to to the Rad cam area to see if the sky was clearer. No luck at clear dark skies, but St Mary’s church looked absolutely stunning with those clouds and the full moon! The sky appeared really overbearing and ominous, and I can imagine how this can easily be a scene from a horror movie with a haunted castle. But it was truly enigmatic at the same time. I stood there for quite a while, just looking and admiring, and wondering why I’ve never realised how beautiful Oxford can be at night.

My walk next took me to the Sheldonian theatre, Turl street, and Lincoln library, and I was followed by the full moon everywhere I went. My search for clear skies was absolutely in vain. There were just far too many clouds shrouding the sky and the moon was too bright. At 3am, the skies looked like they were clearing up, so I continued waiting in the hope that I might catch a shooting star. But at nearly 4am, oh my goodness.. It started raining! I finally stayed up till 4.30am when the drizzle ceased, but the sky was already brightening, so I went to sleep. Failed to see any meteors, or even stars at all, but at least the moon was beautiful.

Despite the fact that the rate of meteors drops drastically after its peak, reports said sightings might still be possible till the 22nd, so I was resolved to try again tonight. The skies look so much clearer tonight and it seemed possible to watch them just outside my room! I took two pillows and Chaffy with me to one of the benches in the open area of Bear Lane, and was fixated on watching this little piece of night sky I had access to. There were lights nearby so the place wasn’t ideal for stargazing, but I could at least see a few stars twinkling so I felt contented just watching and waiting. I could hear someone blowing a recorder somewhere nearby, and the tune of “You are my sunshine” was played over and over again. The melody drifted in the air under the blanket of stars. I started seeing orange sparks moving very slowly across the sky. The first time I saw one, I was so excited and thought I finally spotted a shooting star! But they weren’t very impressive and didn’t appear to be as amazing as I had thought they would be. I later realized that those weren’t shooting stars at all.

At 11:51pm, I saw the first meteor in my life; it streaked across the sky atop Bear Lane, leaving a blazing trail of light that disappeared almost as quickly as it came. It was breathtakingly beautiful. When I saw it, I really felt like 小披风, and was so stunned that I could only gasp and stare in wide-eyed wonderment. I had even forgotten about making a wish when I saw the shooting star. But it was really worth all the wait and nothing could ever beat seeing it with your own eyes. Even my wildest imagination wouldn’t have been able to conjure up such a spectacle. I lingered on for another hour or so in the hope that I might be able to take a video of a meteor and share it with people I know who would appreciate this ephemeral beauty. But then the clouds came and took over the skies so I am here now, chatting and occasionally checking Twitter for other people’s updates on the meteor watch. I might go out and check the sky again later!

But really, just seeing that one shooting star was more than enough for me. I felt so touched when I finally saw it fly past my eyes. I can’t quite explain my emotions over bits of comet debris, but perhaps it is such a special moment because it reminds me that there is an entire universe out there, outside of this little bubble I live in. It is similar to my fascination with stars. In the busyness of reality, witnessing the simple fleeting beauty of a shooting star appears to be exceptionally precious. Especially since life is a mere blink of eternity; so much like a shooting star.

Here’s the bit of sky where the meteor was spotted, and Chaffy joining me in my meteor watch.

After coming back to my room, my lights went cranky again and refused to turn on. So I switched on my starry starry lights and indulged in more stargazing fun! Looks like Chaffy is playing Super Mario and just ate a mega mushroom!