I often seek answers in the wonders of a starry summer sky.

It’s easy to do when you open the mind to the vastness of the universe and all that it holds.

But as I sat on a rural mountaintop last week and watched a stunning comet hanging overhead, I was left with more questions than answers.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS became visible in our evening sky about two weeks ago and has dazzled sky watchers, amateur astronomers and dreamers who share the mystic wonders found in a clear heavenly view.

I was awed when realizing I was watching a tiny celestial object drifting through the night sky 44 million miles away.

Hanging above was a visitor from the Oort cloud, a cluster of icy space debris far beyond our solar system.

Only about 2 miles in diameter, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS became visible as it neared the sun and its 18 million-mile-long ice and dust tail began to glow in the sunlight.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS became visible in our evening sky about two weeks ago. (Ernie Cowan / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

And I was stunned when I learned that this object would journey through the heavens at 150,000 miles an hour for another 80,000 years before returning to dazzle Earth’s inhabitants once again.

I was humbled by the scale of my view.

Most of us live our lives by minutes, seconds, years or decades, but I was looking at a scene that measures in centuries, millennia, epochs or eons.

A friend joked that if he missed it this time, he’d catch it on the next round, and that started me thinking.

What will our world be like in 80,000 years?

It’s a hard question, but as Shakespeare said, “What’s past is prologue.”

Geologically we have many answers that will likely offer insight into the future, such as ice age cycles that began about 115,000 years ago and lasted until around 12,000 years ago. There have also been warming cycles and massive changes in sea levels.

Britannica tell us that modern human beings appeared between 160,000 and 90,000 years ago in Africa.

Archaeologists from The Smithsonian estimate these early ancestors began migrating out of Africa about 80,000 years ago when the world population was estimated in thousands.

Today’s world population numbers over 8 billion, with projections of over 11 billion by 2100.

Sky watchers will tell you now that it’s challenging for people living in cities to see anything in the night sky due to the clouds of light pollution generated by urban centers.

In some major cities, there are people who have never seen the stars, a meteor or the Milky Way, much less a comet.

Fortunately, we still have wild places where the night sky dazzles earthly viewers.

Will population increases rob future generations of the mind-expanding experience of gazing into space and marveling at twinkling stars, a spectacular meteor shower or the northern lights?

How will romance bloom if young lovers can’t find a secluded spot with a star-filled sky or crescent moon that inspires poetry, verse and song?

Will man colonize other planets, allowing romantics to be inspired by more than one moon, colorful planetary rings, or exotic landscapes, unlike anything seen here?

My earthly mind could not process these questions.

I reached out to several astronomer friends who often dwell in the immensity of the heavens. Maybe they had some answers, or at least informed opinions.

Collectively, they questioned both my sanity and sobriety at such questions, suggesting I might get better answers from science-fiction writers.

It seems, we humans don’t look much beyond the end of our earthly noses.

“You can’t be serious,” came one reply. “Hell, I can’t even guess what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

But it was the noted astronomer Dennis Mammana who came up with perhaps the most solid prediction I could imagine.

Many will remember Mammana, who served 16 years as resident astronomer at the Fleet Science Center in San Diego. He is now a resident of Borrego Springs, where he conducts night sky tours.

He was also a bit reluctant to offer any prediction, except one.

“My only guess is that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will be doing a reunion tour that year,” he said.

I think they have already recorded the perfect song, their 1967 hit “2000 Light Years From Home.”

At any rate, how can we ponder these lofty questions, without solitude and dark skies that pull our minds into distant realms where there are no limits?

An even bigger question is, how would mankind be different without the stars or the occasional visit from an 80,000-year traveler?

It’s something to think about.

Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email ernie@packtrain.com or visit erniesoutdoors.blogspot.com.