Comet NEOWISE, better!
Jul. 19th, 2020 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaI tried again tonight to see the comet. This time I biked up the ridge that's north and east of me, hoping to find a darkish clearish spot without going too far. I ended up on the north east side of Wilshire Park, where some trees blocked the streetlights and I could still see to the northwest over the houses.
I found the big dipper again, just emerging in the darkening sky. I did better with finding stars with the binoculars. Maybe the practice helped, or maybe there were just too many lights by the Broadway Bridge.
A woman came by and asked if I was comet hunting. She stood nearby (but not too near!) and we looked for it together. She looked it up on her phone and helped us find the right spot. I think it had moved since yesterday. Anyway it was closer to the front of the dipper than I expected.
I found it in the binoculars! Little and fuzzy with a little tail. I had a sense of it chugging along its path determinedly. I know it's a chunk of rock, but still. What a lonely life, to be a comet. And then these tiny ephemeral beings get so excited when it swings by.
Two pieces of helpful advice from Tasha: Look slightly away from where you think it is to use a part of the eye that is better in faint light. And, when you think you find it, bring up the binoculars without moving your eyes. That hasn't worked for me in the past, but did work this time.
Finding myself in the unlikely position of being the best-equipped person at a star party, I discovered that I have a strong inner value that One Shares Viewing Equipment. But... plague. And of course Tasha (we exchanged names) wasn't wearing a mask. After I decided I was done looking, I handed her the binoculars, and then had her put them directly in the case when she was done. That felt much better to me than not sharing at all.
One of my housemates from college is an astrophysicist. Back in 1998, she invited me to a star party on the south rim of the Grand Canyon that happened to coincide with my driving trip in the Southwest. That was spectacular! All these kind astrophysicists with really good telescopes pointed at nebulas and whatnot, letting me look and explaining what I was looking at. And we could see to walk between their setups by starlight.
I found the big dipper again, just emerging in the darkening sky. I did better with finding stars with the binoculars. Maybe the practice helped, or maybe there were just too many lights by the Broadway Bridge.
A woman came by and asked if I was comet hunting. She stood nearby (but not too near!) and we looked for it together. She looked it up on her phone and helped us find the right spot. I think it had moved since yesterday. Anyway it was closer to the front of the dipper than I expected.
I found it in the binoculars! Little and fuzzy with a little tail. I had a sense of it chugging along its path determinedly. I know it's a chunk of rock, but still. What a lonely life, to be a comet. And then these tiny ephemeral beings get so excited when it swings by.
Two pieces of helpful advice from Tasha: Look slightly away from where you think it is to use a part of the eye that is better in faint light. And, when you think you find it, bring up the binoculars without moving your eyes. That hasn't worked for me in the past, but did work this time.
Finding myself in the unlikely position of being the best-equipped person at a star party, I discovered that I have a strong inner value that One Shares Viewing Equipment. But... plague. And of course Tasha (we exchanged names) wasn't wearing a mask. After I decided I was done looking, I handed her the binoculars, and then had her put them directly in the case when she was done. That felt much better to me than not sharing at all.
One of my housemates from college is an astrophysicist. Back in 1998, she invited me to a star party on the south rim of the Grand Canyon that happened to coincide with my driving trip in the Southwest. That was spectacular! All these kind astrophysicists with really good telescopes pointed at nebulas and whatnot, letting me look and explaining what I was looking at. And we could see to walk between their setups by starlight.
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Date: 2020-07-20 04:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-21 01:12 am (UTC)