W^2 – comet chasing

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Tonight, my wife and I popped in the car to travel a little further west to see the early evening sky. We took off after sunset I’ve been excited about watching sunsets and looking up at the sky since I shared this month’s edition of the Jet Propulsion Lab’s What’s Up: Skywatching Tips from NASA with my kiddos. I’ve added the video below. We are learning about light, it’s that time in the school year.

I was excited when I learned we might be able to see a comet this month if we looked at the western sky close to sunset. That’s what we were looking for, but all we could see was a pretty sunset, Venus and a couple of stars. If I looked the other way, I could see the waxing gibbous moon rising in the eastern sky.

This past weekend we were at the lake, but we arrived too late Friday night to look for the comet and Saturday and Sunday were cloudy, so I couldn’t look for the comet away from the light pollution of the big city. But I am not giving up. Tomorrow night I’ll be outside to see the setting sun and I am hauling along a pair of binoculars for tomorrow night’s volunteer shift at Loaves and Fishes.

Last week, I got a glimpse of the Northern Lights, it was awe inspiring.

the Northern Lights as seen from my backyard. There are some stars visible, too.

Today was an amazing day. I am hoping that tomorrow is a million and six times better. I’ve been waking early to get a jump start on the day and when it is still and clear, I can see Jupiter high in the early morning sky. I’ve been busy Making the Days Count. So, I am going to proofread, edit, add images, and the press publish. The days come one at a time making time. Looking at the night sky with curiosity and wonder.

Do you look at the night sky?

About Clay

I've been a blogger since 2010 and I keep at it because of the community of readers I have come to know. Every day is a possibility and I intend to make every day count.

8 thoughts on “W^2 – comet chasing

    1. I would have missed them had my wife not urged me to go outside…it was 9:19 PM about couple of hours after sunset. Our daughter is a bit north of us and she has seen them more often, of course she’s in college and keeping later hours than me!

  1. Hey Clay – I did not “see” the Northern lights, but my camera did pick up the pink. I saw a very slight pinkish tinge in the sky but the camera shot was pretty cool. That said, because I was able to capture the Nothern lights, I cannot hope to be so lucky as to see the comet as well. I did try, but I think it was too late at night when I remembered to go outside.

    Have a great week.

    Patricia Rickrode
    w/a Jansen Schmidt

    1. It was faint, but my Facebook friends posted their photos and their photos were much better than mine….when we were Up North last weekend – close to 45N we didn’t see anything.. I am not giving up! Have a wonderful fall weekend in Vicksburg!

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