Graduate School is about more than just research. It's about friends, adventures and awe. All of us got into planetary science for a reason. Maybe it was a night under the majesty of the stars. Or a fascination with rocks, spaceships, exploration stories or the swirling eddies of the atmosphere or ocean. Regardless of the form, there is some wellspring, deep within each of us. We must return occasionally to such places to find our way through the darkness.
This week, new MSc Ethan Foley reflects on such a journey to observe a meteor shower, radiating from the constellation Perseus as shown above.
by Ethan Foley
Greetings blog, another new MSc student here: I am Ethan and I am happy to be here! It has been a long time coming with me initially reaching out to John in August 2025 (far earlier than typical for a masters position). I am co-supervised out of Western by John’s longtime colleague and podcast co-host Catherine Neish. I have a background in engineering from the University of Ottawa, but I am trading it in for planetary science here at York. My primary project here at PVL will be working with the MAGE instrument of previous blog fame, with some additional remote sensing projects on Mars and Mars analogues. I have been keeping very busy between reading about my projects, prepping for TAing, miscellaneous admin tasks for two different university institutions, and class! But enough about my background and now for the main story of the blog post.
Over the past summer I was at Western University working under professor Neish doing radar analysis of Mars analogues. Residing in London, I was missing the extensive selection of hiking trails in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. Another member of the Neish Lab brought up a potential lab expedition to observe the Perseid meteor shower and mentioned Point Pelee National Park as a potential viewing area. With none of us having been to Point Pelee, and the peak of the meteor shower coincidentally landing on a new moon and a partial (VERY partial) solar eclipse, it seemed quite literally that the stars aligned for this event.
Some short background on meteor showers and observing meteor showers, a hobby quite common among planetary scientists and astronomers alike. Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the track of cometary debris left in a comet's orbit. Comets constantly shed dust grains that are micron to marble-sized particles in their orbit. When the earth runs into these particles, they burn up in the atmosphere causing the fiery display. The showers are not named after their originating comet but rather the part of the sky the meteors appear to originate from, or the radiant. For example, the shower we were observing is called the Perseids, as it originates from the constellation Perseus. Since the showers are based on where the earth is in its orbit, they peak on an annual basis. Sometimes, when the comet has just recently passed through the inner solar system, there will be significantly increased amounts of cometary debris leading to some insane spectacles. The 1966 Leonid storm is marked by the Guinness World Records for having achieved a staggering 2300 meteors a minute at its peak.
https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/science/astronomy/viewing-meteor-showers-246756/ Diagram showing the alignment that causes meteor showers
That's enough background for now, so back to the story. Leaving London at roughly 12 pm, we had plenty of time to explore the park and nearby town before the expected peak of the shower at 2 am. Our first stop was Leamington, Ontario, apparently the “Tomato Capital of Canada,” duly named, as it hosted the Heinz company’s tomato processing plant from 1908 to 2014. More important to the Neish lab expedition members was that Leamington has the highest concentration of Mexican restaurants in Ontario, resulting in some very full and happy lab members.
The team needed some walking to digest their meal, so exploring the trails of the park was up next. The park was home to an extensive wetland, the biggest waves I have seen not on the ocean, and many, many sea birds. During our exploration, the weather was completely overcast, worrying our team that atmospheric thermodynamics would spoil our chances of seeing any meteors. Anyways, there was plenty of time and more activities to do while we waited.
Me (Left) and Neish Lab member Kyleshaquil Fred Velez (Right) pondering the beauty of the universe
As the hours ticked down, we made another trip back to Leamington for more Mexican food and then watched a presentation given by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Windsor branch on the science of meteor showers to the many attendees. We then made for the point and climbed up to the observation deck before being greeted by intense winds and a view over gloomy Lake Erie.
Lake Erie from the not very high observation tower, I did not want to lose my phone over the edge with the wind.
The sun retreated, and with one more stop in Leamington for some much-needed caffeine, night was upon us. We returned to the park following the train of cars (not the most conducive environment for viewing faint astronomical objects), found parking at the lot, and exited the car. We were starstruck as we realized we were able to make out the big dipper asterism immediately, revealing to us that the clouds had largely cleared from view (our forecast on cleardarksky had predicted this). It was roughly midnight so we sought out a spot on the west shore where the RASC had set up. With some snacks, some shivering, and lots of patience, we began observing. We were early before the appearance of Perseus in the west but still recorded a modest 10 or so meteors an hour. As 2 am rolled around, it seemed the sky came alive. At its peak it was practically a meteor a minute, aligning with the predicted 50 meteors an hour of historical Perseid meteor showers. Drifting in and out of consciousness, lying on the sand, I must have caught at least 70 meteors and missed hundreds more I am sure.
As 4 am hit, we made the necessary decision to head home. Our driver was exhausted and re-caffeinated for the two hour drive, and this marked the end to an extremely successful pilgrimage to Point Pelee. Was it a great time? Yes! Was this blog only written because I thought of the funny alliteration for the title? Also yes. This rounds off my first blog, and I hope there will be many similar adventures here at PVL.
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