Thursday, 17 October 2024

Cloudbusting

 Yesterday was the first clear-skyed day for some time, and the last chance to see C/2023 A3, otherwise known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS or Comet A3, for 80,000 years.  An occasion such as that warranted leaving work early and hightailing it home in order to witness said comet, so I did.
 Having miscalculated the amount of time required to get home, take Bitey out for his evening "movement", and then wander up Madam's Lane with Camera and Tripod, I set out with all three - getting hotter and hotter as I neared Madam's Lane (it had been a VERY warm day for the time of year).
 Once I'd trudged up the not-very-steep-or-very-high Toll's Hill to the Nightship stop (very near boiling point), I gazed around the points of the compass, marvelling at the beautifully clear skies above and to the North, the East, and the South.  And there to the West was my target - obscured behind the only clouds in the sky.  Drat!

The view west from the Nightship stop looking out over Toll's Hill and not seeing any comets.

Where was Kate Bush when I needed her?

 Not wanting to have a completely wasted trip, I thought I'd take some photos of the stars coming out in the west.  But that was scuppered by the Moon which was massive and brilliant, totally obscuring the stars in Camera's sights.  Bah!
 Still, I did inadvertantly get a shot of the light from Cromer lighthouse:


6 comments:

  1. How frustrating. Whenever there is any sort of celestial viewing in San Francisco, we can be guaranteed a heavy fog obliterating the sky.

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  2. Drat! Even though you (unlike us in most of London) have the advantage of actually having a horizon visible without any buildings obscuring it, the good old British weather conspires to prevent you seeing yet another significant celestial event. We have never seen any of those headline-worthy "meteor showers", nor any comets, whenever they occur - either they're completely obscured by clouds or they are only visible low in the sky; just where they are obscured by houses or tower blocks... Hey ho. Jx

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    1. Ooh! I know what to get you for Christmas now: a bulldozer and wrecking ball gift set!

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  3. Well, you still got a post out of it and I do like these pictures a lot! Also, the weekend is nigh!- so that's something to look forward to as well!

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    1. I'm glad you like the photos, Ms Proxima - I've just popped some more up!

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