Comet NEOWISE

Last night after dark, we went out looking for the new comet, NEOWISE. But fog and low clouds lay off our shore—as happens in summer here—plus we weren't sure just where to look, and basically, we gave up. Thinking maybe tomorrow (i.e., today) we'd try heading south, see if we'd have better luck.

This evening before sunset, we did just that—and although there was some fog on the Peninsula and into Carmel, it just kept getting thicker and higher the farther south we went. We turned around and headed north, but again: higher clouds up past Marina. We turned around, came home (via the Safeway for some wine, beer, and ice cream—David observed that we'd taken the scenic route, considering the market is less than a mile from our house), and spent the rest of the evening watching Justified. 

Tomorrow, we may well try a different tactic. Who knows if we will ever see this beautiful comet. And I can say that it is indeed beautiful, because friends of mine have seen it—and photographed it. So I will leave you with a few of those photos here. And keep hoping that sometime in the next couple of weeks, before NEOWISE departs our solar system for good—or at least for my, and a few others' lifetimes (it won't be back for 7,000 years)—we will manage to find the right viewing conditions. They must be around here somewhere.

I know conditions are right in New Mexico, which is where most of the following photos were taken. But that's a bit of a drive, considering one of us has a Monday–Thursday job. But . . . what about Arizona? Doable in a long weekend? Hmmm. Maybe. Maybe not. Believe me, we are considering the options.

Anyway, yeah: here are some lovely photos of NEOWISE. Thanks so much to the photographers, most of them friends of mine (or, some of them, "friends," as in I only know them through Facebook), who followed their passion to capture these images. (As always, click on the picture to view large on black.)

Photo by Bob Fugate

Over Albuquerque, NM. Photo by Bob Fugate

Photo by Bob Fugate

Photo by Bob Fugate

Photo by Geraint Smith

Photo by Geraint Smith

Cannon Beach, OR. Photo by Maria Owens

And finally, this one from my local friend Peter Kwiek, with his commentary:

Sunday, 4:30 AM in the Sierra de Salinas Foothills.
Across the valley, on the Gabilan Mountain ridge, with the lighted antenna,
is Fremont Peak. Best viewed in the dark on a large screen.
Not a huge lens but my goal was to at least be able to resolve the comet.

I think I'll be lucky if I see it as well as in this last photo (it's there! see it?). But I love it that so many of us are going out to look. And some of us are actually seeing, and sharing the wonder. Marvelous!

We'll keep trying.

[And these, from a couple of days later:]

Photo by Bob Fugate

Over Mt. Shasta; I neglected to
note the name of the photographer,
and now FB has scrambled everything,
so I can't retrieve it...

Looking north toward San Jose and Mt. Umunhum;
photo by Don Smith

Photo by Geraint Smith (the streaks are satellites)

Photo by Bob Fugate. (See the dinosaur?)

Photo by Steve Koppel

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It's been ten days since I last posted. The Coronavirus numbers keep rising. Here are the latest for my county, compared with ten days ago: 2,913 confirmed cases (vs. 2,151); 196 hospitalizations (vs. 149); 18 deaths (vs. 15). I do not understand why people (a) do not take this pandemic seriously and (b) do not wear masks. Me, I'm just staying mostly hunkered down at home. But then again, I have the freedom and privilege to do so. So many people don't. And . . . leadership from the top? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. November 3 can't come too soon. Jesus.