Leonard Before Dawn.
Despite gloves, earmuffs, and layers and layers of clothing, it was teeth-chattering cold while we searched the heavens at 4:30 in the morning. The waves of the Atlantic Ocean crashed against the sand in front of us. With our binoculars and the sky window, we repeatedly searched between the big dipper and Arcturus.
The man became quiet. “There it is,” he almost whispered. “It’s faint, but it’s there.”
It looked to me like a fuzzy green ball. My first comet!
In a few days, we will again brave the cold before dawn. Perhaps we will get a brighter view of this dirty iceball apparition when the last sliver of moonlight will no longer be competing.
Back in our room, the man pulled out his sketch pad and recorded this unique observation (date, time, location), signed our names, and gave glory to the Creator.
So Cool. Love ❤️ It
We drank hot chocolate when we came inside – both chilled and excited!
Thank you for sharing…Rolland our God has gifted you with a extraordinary mind and I might add an extraordinary woman by your side at this time in your life. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you, Martha Ann! We make each other smile. That’s a gift!
Rolan, beautiful sketch as always. Here it was not very cold, but when I went out at 3:45AM, it was very foggy. The dome was covered with condensed dew and as I opened up the shutter, I had to be careful to not let water drops fall into the scopes below. I followed the comet in my 61mm refractor and 16″ RC for about an hour and broadcast the observations on liveskies.org. It was amazing to see how rapidly the comet was moving relative to the background stars.
Thanks Jack. I am hopeful that, based on the improved apparent magnitude of the comet, that we might see much more as middle December draws close. It is, as you said, moving fast, so the window for black background is pretty good about the same time a peak seeing capability night occur. We shall see. if you get a good image, send it. I will take a whack at it. I am not likely to be able to unearth my astrovideo equipment in time to get it.