Comet Leonard

[Ben]

I only just read about comet Leonard this morning, but it will be visible pre-dawn for just a few more days, with only binoculars being required. I'll be checking it out if there are clear skies over the next few days. It makes another appearance just after sunset around 17DEC.

I remember the last cool comet I saw was Hyakutake in 1996. I was backpacking with some fellow grad students over Spring break, so was in a fairly dark sky environment. We slept outside of the tents so we could watch it all night. Awesome tail visible to the human eye.

https://www.space.com/comet-leonard-shines-in-december-sky

[sumpnz]

Dang.  Nothing but clouds and rain for the 10 day forecast here.

[Jim147]

It just needs the right nudge.

[WLJ]

[K Frame]

I think we had two visible comets back in the 1990s...

Yeah, Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp. I think it was Hale-Bopp that had that incredible double tail.

Both of them were bright enough to be easily observable in the very light polluted Washington, DC, region.

[MechAg94]

That last one I tried to find was Halley's Comet back in the 80's.  I think it was barely visible with the naked eye in the early morning, but binoculars or a small telescope made it easier. 

[K Frame]

I think Haley's came through in 1986. Never did find it, even with binoculars.

In 1910, however, it was supposed to have been spectacular. My Great Grandfather was a cowboy in South Dakota at the time, and also a writer, and he wrote a great description of it.

[Ben]

I only saw Haley's via this:

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/the-halley-project-a-mission-in-our-solar-system-66r
http://www.vulcanjedi.com/halley.htm

It was one of my favorite old Atari PC games. I tried installing it in my emulator a year or so ago, but couldn't get the stupid thing to recognize any of my input devices.

[WLJ]

Halley's Comet. Isn't that when we got the naked soul sucking vampires raping London?

[K Frame]

Halley's Comet. Isn't that when we got the naked soul sucking vampires?

Lifeforce!

Got what a great terrible movie! Saw it in the theater with friends when it came out.

Mathilda May... oh my, I still have dreams about her.

[Ben]

Well, I had nothing but clouds, so no joy last week. It's supposed to be clear here on the 17th, the next opportunity, so fingers crossed.

[MechAg94]

I think Haley's came through in 1986. Never did find it, even with binoculars.

In 1910, however, it was supposed to have been spectacular. My Great Grandfather was a cowboy in South Dakota at the time, and also a writer, and he wrote a great description of it.

My Dad and I got up at 4 AM or so and were able to see it just above the horizon.  I remember it being a fuzzy blob with a small tail. 

My Great Grandfather mentioned seeing it as well the previous pass.  The tail was supposed to have filled the sky. 

[MechAg94]

Well, I had nothing but clouds, so no joy last week. It's supposed to be clear here on the 17th, the next opportunity, so fingers crossed.

Cloudy here also, but I completely forgot.  I will have to remind myself on Friday.

[K Frame]

These are apparently images of Haley's in 1910, but there's nothing I can find to give them any kind of context.

What I also didn't know is that there was a panic surrounding Haley's in 1910. A French astronomer, using spectroscopy, discovered cyanide compounds in the tail. And others were saying that the comet could collide with earth... interesting stuff. https://allthatsinteresting.com/halleys-comet-1910

[HankB]

In 1986 I saw Halley's Comet when I was living in Minnesota. It was underwhelming - just looked like a fuzzy star through binoculars. The couple of times I saw the Northern Lights when I was living up there were far more memorable.

Didn't see Hyakutake, but Hale-Bopp was pretty bright and obvious. 

Still on the subject of what you see in the skies, most "meteor showers" only seem to produce at best 1/10 the number of meteors per hour NASA predicts, but about 10 or 15 years ago there was an exception - I was seeing about 6-8 meteors per minute.

But the most spectacular celestial events I saw were man made - a couple of nighttime Space Shuttle re-entries over Texas.

[MechAg94]

I always thought it was cool to see satelites going across the sky.  Gotta have a clear sky.

[HankB]

I always thought it was cool to see satelites going across the sky.  Gotta have a clear sky.

Just in case you don't know about this site -

https://heavens-above.com/

They used to predict Iridium flares as well - those are neat to see - but they either moved or REmoved those predictions.

[cordex]

They used to predict Iridium flares as well - those are neat to see - but they either moved or REmoved those predictions.

Pretty sure the old Iridium satellites that produced the flares have been mostly or completely deorbited.  The replacement constellation does not flare.

[K Frame]

Yep, most of them are gone. Still a few flare satellites out there...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation#Defunct_satellites

[Ben]

Yep, most of them are gone. Still a few flare satellites out there...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation#Defunct_satellites

Good riddance. Iridium was my first and greatest stock failure, and I went down with the ship.

[K Frame]

Your money burned up on re-entry... 

[charby]

I saw it Sunday at 545 AM waiting for other deer hunters toshow up. I was at least 5 miles from a town, a mile from an acreage light pole and on top of a big hill. It was pretty faint with the unaided eye.

[fifth_column]

"Comet Leonard has brightened more than 5-fold since it passed by Earth last week."

It'll be visible shortly after sunset, closest pass is on the 17th and 18th.

[Ben]

I am just not meant to see this thing. Yesterday it was clear until around 1600, then clouds rolled in so I missed the window. And of course then the area around Venus was clearly visible when I took the dog out around 2100.

I think Sheldon is playing tricks on me.