Comet Neowise – Photo: Bob King, Duluth, Minnesota
Space Stuff
A significant impetus behind my desire to continue writing posts is my excitement over space stuff. I love meteor showers and comets, planetary alignments and eclipses. And I cherish the intimacy I feel when standing underneath the night sky (or laying flat on my back, weather permitting), knowing there are kindred spirits, known and unknown, sharing that moment of awe with me at that very moment.
I’m sitting here this evening listening to the wind roar through the massive pine trees across the road from our front door. Our wind chimes, sturdy and substantial ones that have a repertoire as vast as the many moods of the wind, from bare whispers to gale forces, are clanging their displeasure. Meanwhile, I’m excited that this front is moving through this evening. Hopefully the skies will clear enough for us to get a glimpse of C/2021 – A1, also known as Comet Leonard.
Comet Leonard
I first started paying attention to this recently discovered comet a few weeks ago, perhaps just before I completed my 1111 Devotion. I saved the Smithsonian article linked above (and again here) on the off chance I might end up writing posts again. This was yet another reminder of the kind of stuff I love to share with all of you.
In fact, you may recall my aspirations to witness Comet Neowise back in mid-July of last year (2020). My efforts to see it were thwarted by cloud cover, but I included some cool shots of that comet taken by others in my post from back then.
Indeed, some of the photos of Comet Neowise are classically stunning. They’re sort of like what one might expect to have appeared overhead when the three wise men were searching for baby Jesus. Once again, I imagine the cosmic wonder of seeing such an object (historically they’ve been called hairy stars!) brightening our sky.
Comet Leonard is supposed to be most visible to us here in the Northern Hemisphere on December 12th. Now, I regret to inform you that I forgot our time to catch a glimpse of this comet at this time is just before sunrise – like, 5:00 a.m. Not my power time. Nevertheless, I entreat you (if you happen to be one of my earliest morning readers) to get outside right now and look to the northeast, apparently near the star Arcturus.
Another Couple Weeks
We should be able to see Comet Leonard for a couple more weeks before it makes its way toward the sun. Even better news for people like me: after December 17th, we should be able to see it in the southwestern sky, just after sunset. (YES! One of my favorite times of the day!) It should be visible near Venus.
So even though tomorrow morning should be the closest we get to this comet, we may well have other decent chances in the coming days – and at more humane times, too. But once it moves beyond the sun, we’ll never see it again. (The last time it approached our sun was 70,000 years ago. Mind boggling.)
Perspective
One perspective I find fascinating about comets? Observing Comet Leonard, like we did Comet Neowise and Halley’s Comet, is an opportunity to witness beauty from afar. It’s not visibly soaring through the sky. Rather, it appears to be sort of hanging there in mid-space.
Meanwhile, when we experience meteor showers, many of those blazing bursts of brilliance whooshing through the sky are actually caused by the Earth literally traveling through the tail of some vast comet. So we see ‘shooting stars’ we’re often in the midst of the ‘hair’ of those hairy stars of old.
The enormity of it all is so grand. And the opportunity to witness phenomena that may never be seen again feels vast and grand as well.
I hope we meet with success over the next several days, either at the crack of dawn (or just before) or the just after sunset.
(T+4)