6 posts tagged “comet”

I just couldn't get it together in time this year. I couldn't put together my hand-made Christmas holiday cards in enough quantity in time for mailing. We sent out commercial cards to most people. But to five folks, those who I thought would most appreciate them, I was able to send cards I created. Most are astronomy folk. One is a wonderful Indian neighbor whose philosophy surely resonates with the thought expressed in the quotation I selected to serve as the greeting/message inside the card:

Dome with Pleiades

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"The touch of an infinite mystery passes over the trivial and the familiar, making it break out into ineffable music... The trees, the stars, and the blue hills ache with a meaning which can never be uttered in words." -- Rabindranath Tagore

So to the many who did not receive this card from me, my apologies. My best wishes do go out to you for peace, and joy, and an ear to hear the music of the cosmos. -- JamesG

It was cold (about 30 degrees) and breezy at about 9:30 PM when I went outdoors to check on Comet Holmes. The weather lately has not been hospitable to observing what with clouds, rain, and even a bit of snow. Tonight the sky was briefly very clear overhead. Aiming into Perseus with my binoculars I fished about only briefly before spotting the cometary cloud very high overhead. It has grown even larger than it was but has faded dramatically. Even with our "clear" skies, light pollution and the dimness of the object made it impossible to see without the binoculars. Predicted weather for the next few days is mostly cloudy with rain and snow, so this glimpse at the sky is apparently about all I'll be seeing for a while. It's going... going....

Update: I went out again at 10:30 to try and take a look at Mars but the sky had gone from clear to mostly cloudy. {Sigh!}

The weekend was rainy, chilly, and dark --especially today-- and suitable to housework, shopping, and staying at home to read. So we continued our work from last week: She pulled old merchandise boxes out from under the basement stairway where they had been stored. I removed the packing materials from the boxes, then flattened the boxes. Items from the now-closed storage locker went under the stairs. Today we took the cardboard boxes and packing foam to places where they can be recycled. The housework shows and the basement, which was a disaster zone following last weekend's clearing of the storage locker, is much better. There's still a way to go but we're making progress. We watched the animated film Ratatouille (just released on home video) Saturday night. It seemed only fitting to enjoy a little wine and cheese, instead of popcorn, whilst watching the film. It was great to see the movie again as it is a masterful production in every way.

Omelette anyone?

Last night I finished reading The Edification of Sonya Crane, a book I spotted at the library. The thing that jumped out at me was the author's name in bold print on the cover:  JD Guilford. I don't think we're related but that sort of thing really catches your eye. It's a gritty novel, aimed at the "Young Adult" reader, about a girl's search for self-identity -- that's the central story line, anyway. It's a good first novel but deals with tough urban teen issues and uses language that may make some readers uncomfortable. There are also a few typos that escaped the publisher's proofreaders! All-in-all a good read and the first novel I've read in years. Captivating and enjoyable.

Our astronomy club lost one of it's finest people last week when, on November 5, Art Nanadal unexpectedly died in his sleep. He was known for his friendly and outgoing nature -- something unfortunately missing amongst the majority of those who attend our club's gatherings. It's not that attendees are unfriendly, it's just that, for the most part, we don't walk up to newbies and warmly greet them; a serious failing in a social group and a personal weakness. Art did that and more. He was also an active volunteer with other organizations, not the least of which were Project Astro, and Special Olympics. There's an astronomy club meeting Monday night, a week after his death, and I'm sure his name will come up often.

It was a cloudy week but one night (Was it Wednesday?) I did get a peek at the stars through a break in the overcast; it was just enough to confirm that Comet 17P/Holmes was still glowing brilliantly in the constellation Perseus. It was easy to spot the obvious change in its relative position since the weekend. Haven't seen it since with the weather as it is. I've got an Observatory open night coming up next weekend and, if the weather is clear, we'll focus on the comet as much as anything else. It will be interesting to see if there's any difference in its telescopic appearance.

Comet 17P in Perseus

I had scheduled an Observatory open night for Friday, Nov. 2. The weather and observing forecasts agreed that Friday night would be, at the very least, a very good night to view Comet 17P/Holmes and that's just the way things turned out. Friday night, for a good couple of hours after sunset, boasted an outstandingly transparent sky. Because the local daily newspaper, The Record-Courier, was kind enough to run our event announcement and our photo of the comet, we had a very good turnout. In all 37 folks of all ages came to see this most unusual celestial visitor. The century-old telescope performed outstandingly keeping good track on the moving object. We could see at least one background star shining through the huge coma. The sky was so clear that I could make out the Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 884 & NGC 869) with my unaided eyes! A glorious sky, indeed. Visitors asked many questions about comets and the Observatory and seemed to have a very enjoyable evening. The event closed out at 10 PM and I shot a number of sky photos with and without the dome in the foreground -- I need to process those images but they look very promising. With this entry is a medium telephoto shot of the triangle Comet Holmes formed with two of the southern Perseus stars. Got home rather late after a most enjoyable night under the stars.

Saturday brought lots of work... She Who Must Be Obeyed decided we needed to move everything out of our rental storage unit and bring it all home. Which we did. In one afternoon. It's amazing what you can pack into a Honda hatchback. Whew! We were both sore and tired after that one and the basement is full of s-t-u-f-f. But it's done. And we save a tidy sum every month that we don't pay for rental space. Sunday, thank goodness, was relaxed with a little shopping trip to a mall, food buying at Mustard Seed Market, and a quiet evening at home. Besides... it was chilly and overcast today!

Further tightening our belts, and for other reasons, we're looking at making a switch from DirecTV satellite television and EarthLink DSL data to the new AT&T U-Verse fiber optic combined service for TV and data. It has its advantages but I'm dreading trying to change my email address for all of those important things I've registered for using the EarthLink email address! Friends and family I can notify. Not so easy for businesses and agencies. {groan!}

Comet 17P/Holmes

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They're my first telescopic comet photos. Here's one that has been heavily "Photoshopped" but it basically shows what I saw... Comet 17P/Holmes moving with two or three background stars showing through its coma. At first the two bright stars were right in the middle of the cloud looking like they might be part of the comet. Alas, as I observed over two hours the bright specks appeared to move off center and away from where the nucleus lay. More later... it's late and I'm tired and I must go to work Monday morning!

A formerly very dim comet called Holmes (17P) flared up October 24th growing many magnitudes brighter. It's currently outside the orbit of Mars and in the southern portion of the constellation Perseus. Last night, following a day of clouds, mist, and rain, I stepped outside to a clearing sky. It took me only a second to find Holmes and view it through my 10X50 binoculars. It was a beautiful sight, though to the uninitiated, it's just a big fuzzball. That is, of course, how it looked... a large, brightly glowing puff with a bright dot in the center -- how comets look "head-on" with any tail streaming behind and away from the viewer. The glow was slightly yellow or golden... quite an unusual object. Nobody's sure how long the flareup will last --heck, it was totally unexpected-- but it's got the astronomical community all excited which, by itself, has been a lot of fun. For the record, Comet 17P was serendipitously discovered by Edwin Holmes back in 1892. He had been observing Jupiter and some double stars when he happened across "his" comet when aiming his 32-cm (12.6-inch) reflector towards the Andromeda Galaxy (or "nebula," back then) to finish up for the night. So his surprise then is a surprise and delight to us today.

I'll be going out to the observatory tonight to take a good look at this comet and try to get some images. We'll see if anyone else shows up there ... I've notified the astronomy class and put a notice on our Web site. It should be fun, regardless. One sees only just so many comets in a lifetime and I want to make the most of this one!