The Night Sky is Awesome!

[kiramaru7]

Tonight I went to the beach to see the comet! Dad heard there's a comet that's passing by, so we drove to the beach on the north shore and waited for the sun to set and the stars to come out. It was a bit hard to find, cuz there was some haze & the light pollution doesn't help, but if you squint just right, you'd see the comet! :D If you had binoculars you could see it a bit better & I bet if we had a telescope we could really see it. But I did and Dad took some pix. I also saw the international space station. It was as bright as a plane and about as big, except unlike a plane it didn't blink, plus that thing can MOVE!! I also saw a specioal kinda of fireball type meteor called a bolide*. That was pretty cool as it looked like a bright flash of light, followed by a trail of golden particles streaking across the sky. :D

*A bolide is a special type of fireball which explodes in a bright terminal flash at its end, often with visible fragmentation. from https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/

I'm going back tomorrow night to see it again! :D Hopefully I'll see other cool things in the night sky! :D (Like the mothership... just kidding! ;D)

EDIT: The comet's name is Neowise. It's in the northwest sky below the Big Dipper & can be seen with binoculars. You can see it with the naked eye, but it's really HARD to do so. Places that are wide open, where you can see the horizon, like an open field or a beach, is probably where it'll be the easiest to see. Also a place with little to none light pollution is also good.

EDIT 2: for those of you who wanted to see it:

Comments

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

very cool. Sounds like fun

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It was a lot of fun & I'm going back for more! :D

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Oh how lovely. I love stargazing and it's even more special when you see amazing things like comets. I remember seeing Hale Bopp when it was passing in 1997, and that was the year that Mr D and I went to Australia so we saw Hale Bopp in both hemispheres. That was very special!

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, stargazing is fun! It was pretty special seeing all those things that I got to see last night. :D

That's sooo AWESOME!! How great is that to be able to see not once, but twice and in 2 hemisphere's too! The coolest thing I've seen in the southern hemisphere is the full moon over the ocean, when we were in South Africa visiting rellies. We had taken a lil side trip, I forget where as I was kid, XD and we all sat on the hotel balcony watching the sun go down & the stars come out. Things were a lil dicey as the country was moving away from apartheid, so it wasn't safe to be out at night, but it was a beautiful place & a wonderful experience! :D I'd love to visit Australia one day! :D (I think we have rellies there too. I know we've got rellies on both sides in England.)

[ranuel.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to see it tonight if the weather behaves.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

I hope you get to see it! We were going to go but it clo9uded up a lot here, so it would be a waste to go. Luckily, there's tomorrow & the weather should be better. :D

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I may be able to see the comet tomorrow but I kind of doubt it. That's about the only place I can think I'd have a chance to see it - I'll be at a 4H fair and it's a little bit out.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah? Good luck & I hope you can see it! :D It's really cool! :D

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I hope I can, too.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*nods* Good luck! :D