Comet NEOWISE: The Cometary Perspective on Human History
(Comet NEOWISE, July 16, 2020, the pale white dot highlighted here within the green circle with tail extending upward and to the right—photograph by Zachary Fruhling, Idaho Falls, Idaho)
On a whim, last night we drove out to the countryside to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE, which was only recently discovered in March of 2020 by astronomers using the NEOWISE infrared space telescope. Having missed seeing other notable cometary appearances, such as Halley’s Comet in 1986 when I was eight years old and Hale-Bopp in 1997, I was excited to finally see a comet with my own naked eyes.
Apparently Comet NEOWISE’s approach to the sun this time around increased its orbital period from approximately 4,500 years to approximately 6,800 years, which means that the last time this comet was visible was around 2480 BCE, give or take, and the next time it will be visible will be around the year 8820 CE.
In thinking about the orbital period of Comet NEOWISE, I can’t help but reflect on the relatively spans of human history and human civilizations. The last time Comet NEOWISE was visible, the Assyrian Empire had only just been established around the year 2500 BCE. The dawn of Ancient Greek philosophy in the 5th century BCE would still be around 2,000 years in the future at that point, with the dawn of Christianity some 500 years after that.
It’s mind-boggling to think how much human civilization has changed in that relatively short time span, at least when seen from the perspective of Comet NEOWISE, in the space of a single cometary orbit around the sun. And while our understanding of the ancient world is necessarily fragmentary, we at least understand the changes and the long-term historical trajectories and trends that led us from that moment in time in the ancient world to our civilization today. The future, however, is much more difficult to see or to predict. Who would have predicted a spacefaring, technological society like ours from looking at the early Assyrian Empire 4,500 years ago? It’s difficult for us to predict what human civilization will look like in another hundred years or thousand years, much less what it will look like when Comet NEOWISE once again graces humanity with its presence in the night sky some 6,800 years hence.
Standing on the side of the road next to our parked car, gazing up at Comet NEOWISE, I was in awe at seeing something that no human would see again for another 6,800 years! Even if I make it far enough in this life to see the next appearance of Halley’s Comet on July 28, 2061, just four days after my 83rd birthday, I have no doubt that I’ll look back fondly on last night as a moment when the petty concerns of our present age seemed a little less important while my family and I stared up at the heavens and also looked inward to reflect on our own short lives and on the history of humanity from the cosmic perspective, if only for the briefest of moments before climbing back in the car to focus once again on the concerns of the present.
Why do we humans struggle so much to take the cosmic perspective when looking at our own lives and on the history of humanity? If the increasing orbital period of Comet NEOWISE makes human civilization look like a brief moment in time, think how the history of humanity compares to the age of the universe as a whole at around 13.8 billion years. Many people, both philosophers and amateur astronomers with a philosophical bent, have drawn a nihilistic conclusion that human life and human civilization are insignificant or even meaningless when looked at from the cosmic perspective.
One could argue, however, along with the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century, such as Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus, that the finitude of human life is what allows us to imbue our lives with rich oceans of subjective meaning and with the motivation to make the most of this brief window of time allotted to us before the sunset of our lives and our descendants both near and far have their day in the sun. Even if our actions and lives today are but a distant cultural memory (if we are lucky!) of our distant descendants, this is still our time in the sun, and we have a duty to appreciate how special it is even to be alive in the first place, whether in marveling at a cometary appearance or in finding meaning in our own meager human projects, relationships, achievements, and cares.
I wonder, 6,800 years fro now when Comet NEOWISE next appears, will anyone will take the time to dig up this very blog post I’m writing right now, or anything else I’ve written, for that matter, philosophically or otherwise? Will my name and life be remembered or forgotten? And will humans some 6,800 years hence stare up at the night sky and likewise dream of their distant ancestors who once also looked up at the sky, way way back in 2020, and at this cosmic visitor to our little corner of the solar system, galaxy, and universe?
Time travel may forever be relegated to the realm of science fiction. But if I can’t talk with those future humans directly or visit them across the vast ocean of time separating us, I can at least commune with them in spirit 6,800 years in the future, along with those ancient humans who happened to have noticed the then-unnamed Comet NEOWISE in the sky 4,500 years ago in the distant past, thinking the same cosmic thoughts and sharing in the universal hopes and dreams of humanity, which span the aeons between and unite us together in a shared cosmic experience, if only for the briefest of moments before Comet NEOWISE once again disappears and before we lower our collective gaze and find ourselves thrust back into the present, if we’re lucky with a renewed appreciation for what it means to be alive and to share in the human experience—past, present, and future.
