COMETS — ASTRONOMY
Here comes the ‘Comet of the Century’ Tsuchinshan–ATLAS
After surviving its trip around the sun, it's working its way back into the sky
I get incredibly excited when new comets start to make their way into our visual orbit here on planet Earth! They can be so unexpected and unpredictable, much like a toddler off its ADHD medications; you just don't know what to expect; it can either explode in a blaze of glory or fade like a whisper.
I have been capturing images of comets for the last 11+ years. I had no idea they were so frequent in our morning and night skies before then. I have successfully imaged 20+ comets up to this point. I need a T-shirt or some sort of official badge that proclaims I am a “Comet Hunter.” I need that title in my life. The street cred something like that could bring me, priceless.
Finding comets can be a difficult challenge, but the thrill of finding them and seeing them in the sky can make my heart skip a beat. That sounds so romantic, and it kind of is, having a romance with the night sky is totally allowed. Some nights I referred to it as “chasing tail,” which would get me a dirty smirk from my wife.
The idea of a giant space snowball (which is all a comet really is, a huge rock of ice!) that…
