Comet Neowise

I try not to get Sam too involved in my obsession with astronomy, but tonight I was staying up until 2.30am and Sam, busy binge-watching Warrior Nun, inadvertently came along for the ride.

Recent predictions of naked-eye comets - i.e. those you can see without even binoculars - had left backyard astronomers frustrated, as time after time they failed to deliver. It had been over 20 years since I last saw a naked-eye comet (Hale-Bopp in 1997), so I was naturally cautious about optimistic reports of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) - or Comet Neowise.

After a miserable run of weather, tonight was forecast to be clear. So, after a hard day measuring and cutting up sheets of polycarbonate roofing, I cracked open several beers and waited for the early hours. This would be when Neowise was just about high enough in the sky for me to glimpse, without being drowned out by the approaching daylight.

WHOA!!!! Naked eye comet not half?!! Its nucleus and tail were clearly visible to the naked eye. Grab a pair of binoculars and things were even more epic. Even a by-now-sleepy Sam was genuinely impressed that she had seen a comet with her naked eye.

I tried to capture some shots on my SLR, but doing so perched on a windowsill, through double-glazing, under the influence of several craft IPAs, it soon became evident that I should just soak up the moment. And wow, what a moment! 

For those wanting to catch a glimpse of a possibly once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, this weekend might be your best shot. Grab some people that might not even care about science and make a bit of a night of it. Treat the kids to a Saturday night stay-up! You will need the following:
  • clear skies
  • the ability to be coherent at 2.30am
  • a clear view to the North/North East; Neowise stays low, so if there are trees or buildings in the way, you might have to relocate
  • binoculars would be good to give people a better view
If you manage to see Neowise, leave us a comment. Good luck!

Comments

  1. Drewski15 July 2020 at 14:52

    As you know, I sadly didn't get the chance to see Neowise due to a combination of sleeping (craft beers to blame) and a lack of visible horizon. Glad you got to see it though and I can always look back on both Hale-Bopp and the solar eclipse :-)

    As for Warrior Nun, any good?It is on my watch list as it is based on a comic, aren't most things nowadays :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee and Sam9 August 2020 at 14:23

      It was an easy watching. Not Lee's cup of tea but I enjoyed it.

      Sam

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hawaii 50 - Big Island Part 3 (West)

Image
We left Volcano National Park and headed west towards the Kona side of the island. On our way we stopped off at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, which was beautiful. We enjoyed splashing around in the warm clear water looking at endangered Hawksbill turtles who were happy to swim around your feet while we tried to keep a safe distance from them.  A little further down the road, we took a turning on the recommendation of one of our friends on Facebook to Ka Lae, the southernmost point in both the Hawaiian Islands and the United States. From here we had planned to hike to Papakōlea beach, also known as Green Sand Beach. A bit of googling on route showed that it was going to be a 2-3 hour hike from the parking lot to get to the beach and we had arrived at the hottest part of the day. We decided to miss it out this time   Our next stop was Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. This turned out to be one of our favourite places during the trip. Until the ...
Read more

New Kitchen!

Image
One good thing to come out of 2020 is that a combination of being at home more and not spending all our money on travelling, led to us finally, after 9 years, replace our kitchen! Our junk room  dining room is no more. We finally have a livable space in the kitchen with enough work surface and modern gadgets to accommodate a small restaurant.  TwoGuys looked after us from the outset when we met Heather who designed the space, Mags and Tony who coordinated the different trades and materials. And finally Bruce, the kitchen fitter who was.... well..... a little like Lee. For those who know Lee, know exactly what I meaningtons.  Shout out Jack the sparky, Brendan and Dave the plumbers and Nada our painter who were all amazing.  Here is the video of our journey to the new kitchen:
Read more