Well, this week we had some success, first of all getting up early in the morning, and then capturing some images of the comet.
But it took two days to get it right or at least better. As you know the comet, NEOWISE C/2020 F3 is just barely visible for early morning viewing. The problem is that the orbit of the comet is such that there is just a short period of time when the comet rises above the horizon and the time when the sunrise drowns out the image. So, on Saturday morning, with just barely time for a couple of sips of coffee, I wandered down the neighborhood to find a location where the comet might just be visible above the trees and rooftops. Hey, yes the comet is visible above the rooftops, but the sun is coming up fast at 5:09 AM.
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| Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3, at 5:09 AM, 200 mm, DSLR, 2 seconds (Source: Palmia Observatory) |
Ok, so we see that getting into a position where you can see low enough above the horizon and not to late in the morning so that the rising sun blocks your image is the most important step. I measured the elevation above the rooftops in the image and found that the comet should just be above the rooftops at least 15 minutes earlier in the morning. That 15 minutes can save you a lot on your car insurance... Wow, wait, no that is not the right story. Those 15 minutes will allow you to observe the comet in darker skies and still have it above the horizon without having to drive somewhere with clearer view of the horizon.
So, the next morning, Sunday, I'm up early again and this time bringing my coffee in a to-go cup, I make the 5 minute walk to the same location and set up. I focus on Jupiter and then scan the horizon. The predicted location of the comet is just a little over 7 degrees elevation at about 41 degrees northeast. Hmm, the predicted perihelion doesn't see quite right, but the other details worked out ok.
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| iPhone GoSkyWatch app prediction for comet location (Source: Palmia Observatory) |
Yes, the sky is much darker now, but I can't find the dim comet with my naked eyes because of well, maybe its just me, but the city lights are bright too. So, I just panned back and forth across the rooftops until I spotted the comet in the Liveview screen.
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| DSLR setup on flimsy tripod and just waiting to find the comet (Source: Palmia Observatory) |
I finally spot the comet in the camera image, just above the rooftops. Now, with the skies much darker the exposure can be increased from two seconds to four seconds. Hooray, now we are starting to get some better images in the darker skies!
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Here is a cropped image of the comet so that we can see a little more of the detail. Other astronomers can use longer focal length scopes to get additional detail. I did estimate the length of the observed tail in these photos and estimated it at just around 1 degree. Hmm, so you could place two full moon images along the length of that tail!
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So, that extra 15 minutes made all of the difference. Now back at the observatory, we can finish some more coffer and respond to some emails. Big Oil Chemist, Dr. Arnold, followed up on some previous blog posts on getting more information on a great series of COVID-19 Conversations sponsored by the National Academy of Medicine. Thanks for that, Arnold! If your are interested you can check out the online discussions at: https://www.covid19conversations.org/
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| Interesting online conversations on COVID-19 (Source: https://www.covid19conversations.org/) |
Finally, for all of you physicist wannabes out there I wanted to pass on a movie review recommendation. You will recall that previously I had mentioned the book, "The Place of Quarantine" that I was reading and things there are really heating up. It seems that the hero, Theo, who is in quarantine, apparently had discovered that consciousness is explained by an interaction term in the Lagrangian of the universe, and interested folks are vigorously trying to get him to recover his memory about the theory, which has been disrupted when the colliding branes, that caused the big bang, have returned and caused some more disruption. Anyway, the read is going well, but in the meantime, another philosophy group member recommended a movie about a physics professor. The professor is just sort of aimlessly moving through his less than stellar career when all sorts of bad stuff starts happening around him and he is shocked into seeking an answer and finding out what is going on and what he has been neglecting in his life. Anyway, we watched the movie on Netflix. What else have you got going on? Anyway thanks for the recommendation, Dr. Gui!
The rest of you check out the Coen brothers movie, "A Serious Man" and see how the story unfolds. In this one screenshot from the movie, you can see our hero proving to the class that "we can't ever know what is going on!" Hmm, maybe that is why he is getting into trouble? I don't know, but I know I really like that blackboard!
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| Screenshot from the black comedy (Source: "A Serious Man", 2009) |
Until next time, here from our burrow, stay safe, as we recover more of our freedom,
Resident Astronomer George
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If you are interested in things astronomical or in astrophysics and cosmology
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