Community Comet Support Group

After four unsuccessful nights of half-assedly trying to see the comet from home, I resolved to see it tonight.

This comet is amazing. With an orbital period of 80,000 years, the next humans who see it (if there are still humans) will surely make us look like humans of 80,000 years ago -- who were still 75,000 years from the invention of writing.

I drove down to Skypark and got out of my car to walk around a bit to decide where to set up shop. There were some kids in the skatepark rambling on, facing the opposite direction of the comet. I decided to walk past them, past the end of the skatepark and into a big field there where it looked dark and had a wide open view of the West.

There were a couple of ladies at the end of the skatepark. One was describing where to see the comet to her friend. I noticed them but didn't make any attempt to engage with them. After a short bit, I decided to go back to the car to get the equipment I brought -- my big tripod, full camera bag with 200mm, 50mm, and 16-35mm lenses, and binoculars.

The two ladies were still there when I returned with all the stuff. I thought to myself, "why not connect with these people who are also here to do what I'm doing?"

So I asked them, "Have you seen it yet?"

I think they weren't expecting me to talk with them because they kind of ignored me. I sincerely apologized, "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to cut in like that."

That kind of broke the ice and the one who was on her 5th night of seeing it described roughly how to find it. It was not visible to any of us at this time, but Venus and Arcturus were out in force, and it was between those two, but higher in the sky.

I was scanning the sky with my binoculars for quite some time, and then stumbled on it! It was magnificent in the binoculars. A bright core with a huge halo and long tail!

I shared the news with my new friends and offered the binoculars while I set up my camera. I shared the great tip of looking at something with your eyes then bringing the binoculars up. I was so glad to have learned that one!

More and more people gathered with us. Each one had their own stories, observations, and abilities.

My Canon mirrorless SLR does an absolutely amazing job of amplifying light, and so I was able to get a very clear view of the comet through a 200mm lens, so people who had trouble holding steady with the binoculars, or who just didn't have good enough night vision to see it could get a great view! It was majestic to share in these Eureka! moments with people when they first saw it in the camera's viewfinder or flip-out screen.

At its peak there were about a dozen of us there, sharing in the amazement. New people would wander up, and get a lesson on how to find it using the trees in the park ("directly above the 2nd short one, with that limb on the tall one that looks like an arrow pointing right at it"). It was a really wonderful scene.

There was a younger couple who looked through the camera and binoculars a few times and we got to geek out a bit on the anti-tail, which led to the super fun explanation of how the tail is actually getting blown back by the sun's energy, and the anti-tail is a trail of where the comet has been. You can just make out the anti-tail in a couple of the photos here. Fun stuff!

An older guy who was able to see the comet through the camera's viewfinder thanked me on his way out.

"Hey it's my pleasure! I'm stoked to be able to be That Guy."

This brought me back to a couple times in my childhood where we were in the parking lot of a planetarium and the local telescope club was meeting. There was always That Guy who invited us to look through his telescope. That was so important, because otherwise I think people assume they are doing some Hard Science or something and Should Not Be Bothered.

That Guy LOVES sharing his joy and ability with others. This is why That Guy is on this earth. To learn things, develop skills, to be able to DO and share all of that with everyone. Bonus points if there is nerdly appreciation.

You can see the full-sized images at my Photodirs site.