Comets...Nice Comets!

Apr 30, 2004

Ah, the glories of spring! The cycle of life begins anew. Animals pop out from their holes. The grass needs to be mowed. The smells (and allergens) fill the air. Baseball season signals an upcoming summer.

So…anybody else as frustrated as me? Three new moons have passed, one aligning itself perfectly with my spring vacation, and I’ve managed only 1 1/2 days of quality “star time.”

Yes, I know, we need the rain… blah… blah…blah…Spring sucks!

Or is it just my LUCK?

Allow me to share with you my recent travails when it comes to astronomy “events.” Last year, I was 0 for 2 when it came to eclipses and 0 for 2 when it came to Meteor showers (those that I cared to see). Mercury transit of the sun? Figittaboudit!

This year, a year of great astronomical happenings, I’ve already been clouded out of a Messier Marathon and a Copperbreaks’ StarWalk. At least we’ve got an upcoming Venus transit, a near once in a life-time experience…oh wait…it’s not visible from here anyway. At least we’ve got the Venus Transit of 2012 in which to look forward… anybody want to pay 2 to 1 odds that’s I’ll get to see that one?

That’s the problem with single night astronomy “events”… the weather always has its say. But it’s not just the weather either. The more money you spend on the hobby, the more variables come into play…the more opportunities for an equipment breakdown, or for leaving a necessary cable or adapter at home….another chance to miss out entirely!

So, as amateur astronomers, observers, and astrophotographers, we always have to temper our expectations with the realistic possibility that things might not work out the way we’d like. We have to learn to deal with things like this. Or maybe I can take solace in my bad luck:

“Jay, did you see the solar eclipse?”

“No, I missed it, as usual…woohoo!”

Perhaps this is why I love COMETS so much. They don’t tease you with a single night’s window. They hang in the skies just begging to be seen, often for months on end, before they finally fall prey to the inertia of their orbits.

This month of May holds some special treats for us. Three bright comets are in the sky as we speak. At the time you receive this issue, one of these is visible with binoculars in our morning skies, though it’s fading fast. Two others will be seen easily by the naked eye towards the end of the month…just keep your eye on the West and the South, in the early evening skies.

It’s a rare event…I doubt even I could miss it!